April 2, 2025 • 53 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
Live from the Saints Headquarters in Tolleson,
arizona, spreading the Gospel,equipping the Saints, standing
for the word of truth,proclaiming God's grace.
Now, on a podcast near you,welcome your host, pastor Joshua
, on the Saints Will OvercomeMinistries.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
This is Pastor Joshua.
I am back.
It's an honor and a pleasure tobe with you.
Ladies and gentlemen, last timewe talked about the introduction
to Revelations and I reallywant to talk about this
introduction a little bit moreand my particular stance on what
I believe about Revelations.
(01:14):
I believe that the majority ofRevelations was fulfilled in the
first century after the deathof Christ.
I don't believe that themajority of it takes place in
the first century after thedeath of Christ.
I don't believe that themajority of it takes place in
the future, and I ask that youbear with me, you stay with me,
you understand my position as wego along and journey through
(01:35):
this book of Revelations, and Iwant to read a chapter to you so
you can get my position, andthen we'll carry on where we
left off.
This is matthew 24.
In this particular chapter, alot of people talk about and
believe that this is whathappens at the end of the times,
(01:57):
at the end of the world.
So we're going to start onmatthew 24, verse 1.
We're going to start on Matthew24, verse 1.
So here we go, guys, here we go, ladies and gentlemen.
Jesus left the temple and waswalking away with his disciples,
came up to him to call hisattention to its buildings.
Do you see all of these things,he asked Truly.
(02:20):
I tell you not one stone herewill be left upon another.
Every one will be thrown down.
As Jesus was sitting on theMount of Olives, the disciples
came to him privately.
Tell us.
They said, when will thesethings happen and what will be
the sign of your coming at theend of the age?
(02:41):
Now, a lot of individualsinterpret this different.
Now, a lot of individualsinterpret this different.
And the New InternationalVersion says the end of the age.
Some dynamic equivalents orcontinuums will say at the end
of the world.
So I like this interpretationbecause I believe it's the end
of the age and the end of theJewish age, in a sense of this
(03:05):
particular time frame in history.
Now, what does the word comingmean?
Does it mean coming at the endof the world, as many futurists
believe when they interpretatethis verse?
Some commentators, there's manyindividual theologians that
(03:26):
believe coming means coming injudgment, and Matthew 24 has to
do with the genre of aapocalyptic judgment language
that this chapter is written in,which I'm basically sympathetic
, to which that's my belief.
(03:46):
Now let's look at Jesus'sresponse to his disciples.
Jesus answered watch out thatno one deceives you, for many
will come in my name claiming Iam the Messiah and will deceive
many.
There were those individuals inthe first century that were
(04:07):
claiming to be Messiah.
So this happened in the firstcentury and this was happening.
You will hear of wars andrumors of wars, but see to it
that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, butthe end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nationand kingdom against kingdom.
(04:29):
There will be famines andearthquakes in various places.
All of these things are thebeginning of birth pains, and
you know what?
This is true as it was backthen, as it is now.
There's wars and rumors of wars.
(04:50):
Look what's going on today withRussia, with Ukraine, with Gaza
, with Israel, with the UnitedStates getting involved.
So there's a far, in a sense, afar outre reaching prophetic
fulfillment of this, but there'sa historical fulfillment of
this, which I believe matthew 24is talking about.
(05:14):
We have to remember, ladies andgentlemen, that the jews, they
were anti-christ back then, andI'm not anti-Semitic by any
means, so please nobodymisinterpret that we have
Judeo-Christian values, but theyactually believe that he is not
the Messiah.
They wanted a physical Messiah,they wanted a king like David.
(05:39):
And Christ is predicting ajudgment against the nation of
Israel and he's going to comeand judge them and that's what
he's going to do for theirapostasy, for their blasphemy.
And this takes place.
(06:01):
And this was fulfilledliterally in AD 70 under Titus.
Titus destroyed Jerusalem andthe temple buildings
Figuratively.
No stone was left upon oneanother.
There was an excavation done in1968 and uncovered a large
(06:31):
amount of these stones.
False messiahs, wars, famines,earthquakes all occurred in the
40 years between Christ'scrucifixion, around AD 30-33,
and the destruction of thetemple happened in AD 70.
Josephus, a first centuryJewish historian, mentions all
of these things, all of theseacts.
So we have to understand andput all of these things into
(06:57):
context.
The labor pains theydemonstrate a baby that the body
wants to deliver.
So all these things are goingto happen persecution, martyrdom
, apostasy, false prophets.
The wickedness of the nation,ladies and gentlemen, is what is
(07:18):
occurring.
Then you will be handed over.
Well, let's just back up alittle bit about the deception,
about the wars, the rumors ofwars.
And it says all these thingswill be the beginning of birth
pains, famines and earthquakes.
Then you will be handed over tobe persecuted and be put to
death, and you will be hated byall nations because of me.
(07:41):
And that time many will turnaway from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, andmany false prophets will appear
and deceive many people.
Because of the increase ofwickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, but the one whostands firm to the end will be
saved and this gospel of thekingdom will be preached in the
(08:03):
whole world as the testimony toall nations.
Then the end will come.
There's a disagreement on whatall nations mean, all the
nations within the Roman Empireand the end will come, the end
of what will come.
Well, like I believe, the endof the actual Jewish system will
(08:26):
come and the end of the actualworld in the sense of the modern
world in that geographicallocation, and that's what I
believe.
What is happening here is Jesusis prophesying judgment on the
Jewish population for abandoninghim as the Messiah coming to
(08:52):
look over them, wanting to lovethem, wanting to care for them.
But that did not happen.
So let's continue reading,ladies and gentlemen.
So when you see standing in theholy place the abomination that
causes desolation, spokenthrough by the prophet daniel,
(09:15):
let the reader understand.
Then let those who are in judeflee to the mountains.
And this is very important.
What do we have going on here?
The abomination that causesdesolation, and this was
predicted in Daniel 9, 27, 11,31, and 12, 12.
(09:39):
And a lot of individualscommentators believe that this
has to do with Antiochus,epiphanes and the desecration of
the temple, which is the holyplace, and that was fulfilled in
167 BC.
But there's a future event yetto come, that when Rome
(10:02):
destroyed the temple in ad 70.
So what I believe the comingmeans in this scripture is the
coming of judgment, the end ofthe world, the jewish system as
the jews know it, for abandoningand betraying christ not Not
(10:24):
all, because there was a very,very faithful remnant 144,000,
that fled to Pala.
That we will see in Revelations.
But these are the Jews, themajority that make up the nation
that abandoned the Messiah, andChrist isn't having it.
(10:45):
He's going to judge.
It will be a dreadful judgment,and he talks about the
abomination that causesdesolation through the prophet
Daniel and he says let those whoare in Judea flee to the
mountains.
Let no one on the housetop godown and take anything out of
the house.
We don't have housetops here inAmerica, but every Jew's house
(11:12):
had a little porch on the topwhere they could have a lookout
and then go sit up there, and itwas a common thing on the
housetop built in the compound.
Let no one go into the field,go back to get his cloak,
because it was an agrariansociety.
How dreadful it will be inthose days for pregnant women
and nursing mothers.
Pray that your flight will nottake place in the winter or on
(11:37):
the Sabbath, for then there willbe great distress, unequaled
for the beginning of the worlduntil now, never to be equaled
again.
So we have to understand christis trying to warn his people.
So as we move in to thisbeautiful book of revelations,
(11:59):
and we start from revelationschapter 1 and we go from verse
12 to 16 that's what we'repicking up today, ladies and
gentlemen, we have to understandthat I'm addressing this book,
pastor Joshua, from thestandpoint, the vantage point,
of the judgment taking place onthe Jewish system and nation for
(12:23):
abandoning Christ.
And God is going to use theRoman Empire to administer that
judgment, which is not a goodnation itself, which is a wicked
system and a wicked nationsitself.
But this is what God chooses todo.
So not everything was fulfilledin the first century, but a lot
(12:45):
was fulfilled in the firstcentury and you'll see as we go
down how I lay that timeline outas I go down through
Revelations and the history ofRevelations and I will throw
some idealist view in there, alittle bit of historicist and
futurist, a little bit ofhistoricist and futurist.
(13:08):
But my main teaching when yougo through this book is a
methodology, a partial preteristmethodology, but a methodology
of going through it andunderstanding what it is and not
specifically staying adherent100 to the partial preterist
view, because I believe allthese views that are explained
by commentators and theologians,scholars, are very, very good
(13:30):
points in each and every one ofthem.
So let's Pick up at revelations1, 12 through 16.
This is what John is seeing.
Then I turned to see the voicethat spoke with me and, having
turned, I saw seven goldenlampstands.
In the midst of the sevenlampstands, one was like the son
(13:53):
of man, clothed with a garmentdown to his feet and girded
about the chest with a goldenband.
His head and hair were whitelike wool.
And I want to stop right there.
You have a lot of Africanpeople, black people, they'll
(14:15):
say.
You know he was black becausehis hair was like wool.
And this is not talking aboutwhat his hair was, and this
scripture on verse 14 is talkingabout that.
His head and hair were likewool, as white as snow.
(14:35):
So it's talking about a color,it's not talking about the
texture.
So I want you to understand onething, ladies and gentlemen I'm
married to a black woman whichI love her very much.
But I want to tell you guyssomething this book is written
symbolically and so we can'ttake the majority of this book
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literally.
The methodology approach inthis genre of writing is mostly
symbolic, but literalism isappropriate to its
interpretation of the book ofrevelations to some degree.
As white as snow and his eyeslike a flame of fire, basically
(15:20):
his piercing vision, christ sees.
All.
His hair is white as snow.
Eternal Christ is eternal.
The wisdom of Christ.
His feet were like fine brass,his judgment treading in the
winepress, as this book isunfolding, as is refined in a
(15:44):
furnace, and his voice as thesound of many waters.
He had in his right hand sevenstars, out of his mouth when a
sharp, two-edged sword.
His countenance was like thesun, shining in its strength.
So he has in his right handseven stars, which is the seven
(16:07):
churches that John is writing to, and out of his mouth went a
two-edged sword, and we have toremember this two-edged sword.
Is the gospel going out, is thejudgment going out, is his word
going out?
And so John's unfolding all ofthis, which is a beautiful
(16:33):
unfolding of the plan and thebeginning of what is going to
happen to the nation of Israel.
And so that is what's going onover here right now in the book
of Revelations, and you havethis golden band worn across his
(16:55):
chest, which is a symbol ofhigh rank in the ancient world.
You have a long linen garmentwhich is priestly Christ is the
high priest.
Give us white hair which ishonor and wisdom, like I was
saying, wisdom before Flamingeyes conveying his vision,
(17:18):
seeing all, piercing all thejudgment.
And so that's what we have tounderstand about this verse.
We have to understand is christis all powerful, christ is all
seeing, christ has all knowledge.
(17:41):
This is the one that is goingand that is worthy of breaking
every single seal, and we willsee that, as John is weeping and
sad and waiting, who is thisone that can open the seal?
(18:04):
It's this drama unfolding, thisbeautiful drama that's
unfolding, that we all need tosee and that we all need to take
in to our spirits and be in aweof what is actually happening
in this situation right now.
Situation right now.
(18:26):
So if we go back to Daniel,chapter 10, and we read verses 1
through 4, we can startunlocking what Daniel's talking
about when he witnesses themajesty.
(18:47):
So let me read Daniel, chapter10, verse 1 through 4.
In the third year of King Cyrusof Persia, a revelation was
given to Daniel, who was calledBelshazzar.
Its message was true and itconcerned a great war.
The understanding of themessage came to him in a vision.
At that time I, daniel, mournedfor three weeks.
I ate no choice food, no meator wine touched my lips and I
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used no lotions at all until thethree weeks were over.
So Daniel, in a sense, is inthis time of cleansing,
spiritual cleansing, in thistime of mourning as his vision
starts unfolding.
For Daniel it's a time ofsoberness and a time of
seriousness, and I don't doubtDaniel was full of anxiety and
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angst as his vision is beinguncovered and unveiled for him.
And as we pick up in verse 4, onthe twenty-fourth day of the
first month, I was standing onthe bank of the great river, the
Tigris.
I looked up and there before mewas a man dressed in linen,
with a belt of fine gold fromEupaz around his waist.
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His body was like topaz, hisface like lightning, his eyes
like flaming torches, his armsand legs like the gleam of
burnished bronze and his voicesounded like a multitude.
So if we compare this to whatJohn is saying, we can
(20:25):
understand.
It's not saying what Christlooks like, in a sense, but what
Christ is like.
And this apocalyptic languageis extraordinary because John is
conveying the majesty and theglory of Christ.
So we talk about the sevenstars of Christ.
(20:52):
So we talk about the sevenstars which are the seven
churches right, the two-edgedsword, and that verse is given
as we continue, of these sevenstars, in verse 20.
So let's go from revelations 1through 17 to 19 now.
And when I saw him, john that is, I fell at his feet as dead,
(21:12):
but he laid his right hand on me, saying to me Do not be afraid,
I am the first and the last.
I am he who lives and was deadand behold, I am alive
forevermore.
Amen.
And I have the keys to Hadesand of death.
(21:33):
Write these things which youhave seen and the things which
are, and the things that willtake place after this.
So, if we notice, john falls tohis feet like he was dead when
he sees the majesty of Christ,because it was so awe-inspiring
(21:55):
and his presence was so powerfulhe could barely even handle it.
That's how majestic God is,christ is and he held the keys
to Hades and death and he raisedhimself with his own power,
(22:22):
with the power of God.
John is seeing a miraculous,miraculous vision.
Hades will not prevail againstthe church.
That comes from Matthew 16, 18.
And Jesus is the one who holdsthem keys to Hades and death.
He can unlock and open thegates, he can shut the door and
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he resurrects the saints on thelast day.
So, as John is told to writethese things down which he has
seen, he's in awe of what he iswitnessing in front of him
through this vision.
So this is an amazing, amazingsituation that is happening as
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John is writing all of this down, the apocalypse, and we have to
understand that.
I believe the majority that thisis taking place in the first
century.
When we talk about the sevenstars in revelations 120, we
(23:28):
have to understand what John istelling us, what he's describing
, the mystery of the seven starswhich you saw in my right hand,
the seven golden lampstands.
The seven stars are the angelsof the seven churches and the
seven lampstands which you saware the seven churches.
(23:52):
So I had that transversed alittle bit.
The seven stars are the sevenangels, but the lampstands are
the churches.
Understand that there aretheologians and commentators
that believe the seven stars andthe seven golden lampstands are
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two different things.
Some individuals believe thatangels mean angelic beings
guarding the seven churches,while others believe the seven
messengers or the sevenministers are the ones
delivering this message asthey're reading the letter to
John.
Either way, they're overseersof the church and that's what we
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have to understand.
They're working hand in hand bythe providence of God.
So John is revealing thesethings to the seven churches
through the messengers.
God is giving this vision.
Jesus Christ is giving thisvision through John.
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So there's a lot happeningright here.
The seven spirits, and so thisgoes on and on and on in the
book of Revelations, and this isa beautiful book.
This is a book that is verydifficult and hard for a lot of
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people to understand.
This book by no means is easy,and that's why we're going
through this book right now, aswe speak, and that's why at the
beginning, I was talking aboutMatthew 24 and the signs of the
time, because there's quite afew different interpretations,
and I believe it's veryimportant that we go through
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this book verse by versetogether so we can get more of a
general understanding of whatJohn is revealing through Jesus
Christ, the Alpha and Omega, thebeginning and the end which
Christ is, the vision of the Sonof man writing to the churches,
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the seven churches.
The historicists believe thatthese are seven different ages,
which I disagree with.
I don't believe they're sevendifferent ages Seeing the seven
golden lampstands, the Son ofman clothed in a robe, the stars
having the keys to death inHades, and so these are very
(26:33):
important things that are goingto lead up in a dramatic play,
in the sense, to sort of speak,that we need to pay really,
really close attention to.
And he talks about Revelations 2, 1 through 7, about a letter to
Ephesus.
So let's continue reading aboutthe letter to Ephesus.
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To the angel of the church ofEphesus, write these things, I
say he who holds the seven starsin his right hand, who walks in
the midst of the seven goldenlampstands, I know your works,
your labor, your patience andthat you cannot bear those who
(27:20):
are evil.
And you have tested those whosay they are apostles and are
not, and have found them liars.
I want to stop right there,ladies and gentlemen.
Christ is encouraging,complimenting, exhorting the
church in emphasis and says youguys do not tolerate false
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teachers, you do not toleratewolves.
And I go through this in my book, the American Jesus America's
Quest to Redefine the Savior.
And I want you to answeryourself a question as we're
reading this how many churchesin America have you seen and
heard entertain false preachers?
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Seen and heard entertain falsepreachers?
Wolves, liars, selling thegospel, using it as a sales
manual, hurting the congregation?
Luke 6, give me a tithe, giveme the 10%.
I've never seen a situationwhere God hasn't given you back
(28:28):
more for giving.
Well, that's an anathematizedinterpretation of the book of
Luke.
Those people were extremelypoor.
We know about the widow's mightand we know God honors giving.
(28:52):
But for a false wolf to preachat the pulpit which most do in
america, and promise a return oninvestment, like it's on the
new york stock exchange and thesmp, is totally anti-biblical.
And that's why one of mychapters is called Materialism
or Messiah, because a lot ofthese churches are selling
Jesus's name.
They're just doing it in aheretical way which is fooling
(29:15):
the masses.
10% is the training wheels togiving, and giving to God is a
very, very good thing.
It's a biblical thing.
It's a mandate thing is howmuch you love him thing.
It's a biblical thing.
It's a mandate thing is howmuch you love him.
But then a lot of wolves at thepulpit are extorting their
community of believers throughguilt and that is the model in
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America for a lot of preachers.
And I will say it and I willnot back down from it.
But look at this letter toEphesus, as Christ is relaying
this information.
He says you can't bear thoseevil people.
You've tested them sayingthey're apostles.
A lot of people now in thechurches are saying they're
apostles.
You have found them liars.
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They're Bereans, they'retesting the scripture, just like
Paul said, and you havepersevered and you have patience
and have labored for mynamesake and you have not grown
weary.
So they're getting complimentedin Ephesus on they are staying
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strong to doctrine, they lovethe doctrine and we get a view
of the church in its totality,in its whole, and what Christ
wants from the church.
But he does have a situationhere, jesus, and he has a charge
(30:38):
to bring against Ephesus.
So their teaching is spot on,their non-tolerance is spot on.
But we have a problem here inverse 4.
Christ says, nevertheless, Ihave this against you, that you
have lost your first love.
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What is the first love thatJesus is talking about?
What is Christ trying to tellthe church in Ephesus that Jesus
is talking about?
What is Christ trying to tellthe church In Ephesus that they
have lost their first love.
Remember, therefore, from whereyou have fallen, repent and do
(31:21):
your first works, else I willcome to you quickly and remove
your lampstand, which is yourchurch.
Remember from its place, unlessyou repent, but this you have,
that you hate the deeds of theNicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear, let him hearwhat the Spirit says to the
churches, and that's capitalSpirit, right spirit.
(31:44):
Right.
To him who overcomes, I willgive you from the tree of life,
which is in the midst of theparadise of god.
So we have a lot going on here.
They're teaching a spot on.
Their non-tolerance for peoplethat are lying is spot on.
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And this city, ephesus, has apopulation around 250,000, so
it's a big city.
It's one of the most largestimportant cities in the Roman
province of Asia.
But they had a cult within thiscity and it was devoted to
Artemis Diana, and so you had alot of pagan worship going on in
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this city, the temple to thegoddesses, to the goddess, and
this was considered one of theseven wonders of the world.
So the church of Ephesus wasestablished by Paul in a city
that was heretical, in a citythat was heretical, that
practiced a lot of culticworship, and that was probably
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very difficult for the Ephesians.
Can you imagine beingsurrounded by a city of pagan
cult worship?
And there had to be persecutiongoing on?
There just had to be a lottrying to survive an environment
of such, and so their love,their love, has grown cold.
They've forgotten their firstlove, and there's probably
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elements of some peoplepracticing idolatry and not
staying true to the word, and sothat is a situation that is
going on.
This church is being tested.
Man, I could imagine, if thatwas going in our day, how we
would hold up we we can't evenhold up in a lot of these
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churches in a system of nothingbut materialism and luxuries
that are beyond anything we canimagine.
To me.
We haven't even been tested inAmerica yet.
We have not even dealt with asituation close to this, and so
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that is the situation that'sgoing on, and Christ the one
that holds the stars in hisright hand in the midst of the
seven golden lampstands whatthat has to do with is Jesus'
sovereignty and his majesty.
He's controlling all of this.
He is God, he is Jesus, he isthe Son of God, he is the High
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Priest and he affirms theknowledge of the.
He is the High Priest and heaffirms the knowledge of the
positive things that they'redoing.
I mean, their labor is right on, their patience is right on,
it's what he loves about thechurch, and they don't tolerate
evil, and they were exercising alot of discernment on keeping a
lot of these false actors outof the church, and this was a
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beautiful thing.
Can you imagine how much troubleour churches are in?
We are in a lot of trouble herein America.
We are in a lot of trouble herein America.
I mean, we focus on coffeeshops and programs and all of
these things, and people leavethe church and a lot of them are
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angry during the day, rightwhen they leave, they're almost
ramming people off the freewayand it's almost like a lot of
the love ends where the doormeets, the door jam and they
walk out.
And not being judgmental, but Isee it and this is a problem in
our modern day churches you walkout, you go right back into the
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world of self-centeredness andidolatry of.
I am my own god and I'mencouraging all believers to
stay strong, to reject the falseteaching, to reject the lies,
to don't fall victim to thedevil's deeds, but stay true to
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teaching.
Don't forget your first love.
And Christ tells the churchrepent and do the things that
you need to do, that you did atfirst, meaning we all need to
repent, I need to repent, we allneed to repent and always come
back to our first love everysingle morning.
(36:26):
And Jesus condemns theNicolaitans and they were a
heretical sect and their nameliterally means victory people,
and they promoted false teaching, idolatry, immorality and they
basically taught the disgustingedicts of Balaam and Jezebel, as
(36:49):
you look at in verse 14 and 20.
And the Ephesian church said wedetest Balaam, we detest
Jezebel.
And Jezebel was a very, very,very evil, wicked woman, ladies
and gentlemen, and her namelives on in infamy to this very
(37:13):
day.
So Christ commends this church.
He says you've resisted evil,you have vanquished the false
apostles, the nicolaitans.
You want nothing to do withtheir teacher or their
traditions and their teachers,because they were pure, pure
(37:35):
evil that were bringing down thechurch.
Like a lot of false teachersare doing this today.
They're Nicolaitans and they'redoing the same thing and
they're just calling itsomething else.
And Nicholas was the main guythat was starting this cult.
That's why it started andthat's why it was called the
Nicolaitans.
And we can go back and we cango look at Acts 6, 5.
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They became a heretical sect.
So John is writing as kind oflike an, in a sense, the vision
that Christ is revealing to him.
They have not become weary,they forgot about their first
love, and so that is the thingthat Christ has to bring against
(38:27):
them.
But they're loyal when it comesto the word.
And Christ says he gives awarning I can remove your
lampstand.
This does not have to do withthe second coming.
I don't believe it has to dowith an admonishment of judgment
(38:48):
.
So Christ is saying hey, girdyourself up and get back to the
basics.
I need you to do these things.
I need you to come back to me.
I love you and I do not want tolose this church and I do not
(39:13):
want to remove the lampstand.
I want to keep the lamp stampstrong and I want you to conquer
so you can eat from the tree oflife.
And these are what he's sayingto the seven churches, because
you got to remember, the sevenchurches are the light of the
world.
(39:33):
The lamp are the light of theworld.
The lampstands light up thedarkness.
And I really want to go throughand I want to talk about the
letter to Smyrna and we're goingto stop after this letter
because this is going to take along time to go through this
(39:54):
book.
I mean, we're basically justhitting the introduction Letter
to Smyrna, revelations 2, 8through 11.
So remember the church inEphesus.
They don't tolerate no falseteaching, but they're losing
their love and I believe part ofthat love was the love amongst
each other.
They were headstrong in theirtheology but they were weak in
(40:19):
their hearts showing love to oneanother and to Jesus Christ
himself.
So the love kind of grew cold.
It grew cold, but the theologywas spot on.
And I've noticed when I went toa lot of Protestant churches
around the valley, not a lot.
So I don't want to say that,but I went to a couple and that
was a situation of one church.
I had to leave.
The theology was just amazing,but the heart of the church, the
(40:47):
love, was cold, and so I left.
Revelations 2, 8 through 11.
And to the angel of the churchof Smyrna write these things say
the first and the last, he whowas dead and came to life.
I know your works, tribulationand poverty.
So this is a poor church.
(41:09):
They don't have a lot of money.
Christ is looking at theirworks, but you are rich and I
know the blasphemy of those whosay they were Jews and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
So there's an element of Jewsthat are blaspheming the
Christians and the church inSmyrna in the church in Smyrna,
(41:35):
and Jesus is saying that theyare the synagogue of Satan, that
they are anti-Christ, that theyare working against the church,
and he is witnessing this andhe's not going to tolerate it
much longer, that he is going todeal with this and he's
(41:59):
encouraging them and praisingthem and he sees their suffering
.
And this was a big city, it wasa harbor city and it was right
around 35 miles north of Ephesusand this church in Smyrna in
(42:22):
the city.
It was a beautiful city, he hada civic pride and it was
supposedly the place to Homer'sbirthplace, where he was born.
It was an important center ofemperor worship and a home to
the goddess Roma.
So you have a big pagan element.
(42:43):
One of the greatestphilosophers was born there.
So there was a high degree ofidolatry going on there and
these Jews were being persecuted.
This Jewish church, thisGentile Church I should say the
mixture of both it was beingpersecuted by Jews.
Jews were afflicting them,gentiles were afflicting this
(43:08):
church, calling those Jews thesynagogue of Satan.
We have to remember Smyrna hada population of Jews and they
were persecuting ChristiansInstead of recognizing who these
(43:32):
Christians were and who theseChristians were worshiping.
But Jesus says this Do not fearany of those things which you
are about to suffer.
Indeed, the devil is about tothrow some of you in prison,
that you may be tested.
You will have tribulation forten days, be faithful unto death
(43:54):
and I will give you the crowdof life.
I want you to think about that.
They're gonna throw you inprison.
You're gonna face an intense,brief persecution and testing
and you can possibly die.
(44:15):
That's a big deal.
That's not something to takelikely.
I have not even sufferedanything close to that and I
pray to god if you're listeningto this radio show and you're in
a time of tribulation andsuffering there are people that
listen to show in africa and andSudan and all over the world
(44:36):
that I encourage you to pray toChrist to give you that faith,
because that faith is a gift andI do not take it lightly and do
not say this lightheartedly,because I've never had to face a
persecution as such and Ibelieve the only way I could is
(44:56):
if God strengthened me.
I don't have it within myselfto do it.
There's just no way I couldn'tdo it if and if I wanted to, and
that's a situation where Christhas to do this, that Christ has
to come through, and I'mpraying for all of you that are
(45:16):
going through this persecutionand I pray, in your time of
testing, which will probablycome to the United States one
day, that we can all get throughthis and that I can be a
faithful martyr of that timeever called, and that is not an
easy task.
I believe those people inheaven have such rewards and
held to the highest degree byChrist, because it's not an easy
(45:41):
thing and an easy burden tobear.
He who has an ear, let him hearwhat the Spirit says to the
churches.
He who overcomes shall not behurt by the second death, so
that second death will notdestroy you.
The lake of fire hades shallnot take your life from you,
(46:08):
christ is saying, even if theykill you, the second death,
which is the judgment, so tospeak, for the righteous and the
damned, that will have no powerover you, because christ is the
arbitrator of everything.
He holds the keys in his hand.
He's the one who grants eternallife during this time of
(46:30):
persecution and tribulation asit's escalating I mean a
generation later, polycarpsuffered martyrdom, polycarp was
persecuted, polycarp wasdestroyed and he hung in there
(46:53):
to the very last moment.
Ladies and gentlemen, christ isthe first and the last.
He said even in your poverty,you're rich.
I remember a story where Itraveled all the way to a small,
small, small city of buckeyetown and the elders gather
(47:14):
around me and they said thechurch was almost 100 years old.
And the elders and the pastorgo.
Why won't our church grow.
All these other churches gotpeople, they got wealth, they
got riches and they were a veryfaithful church.
I just walked in.
It was like a wild west scene.
I walked in and sat in the backand just a new person me coming
(47:35):
in.
They were just amazed becausethey never had that in a long
time.
And I told them you guys are afaithful church, don't covet so
many expensive things in yourchurch and programs.
I understand why you're theposition you're in and money's a
good thing, why you're theposition you're in and money's a
(48:00):
good thing.
But also it can corrupt.
The money can corrupt.
I've seen it a lot in churchesand money becomes worship.
So just hold on to your firstlove, which is jesus christ, and
do not let that go to the very,very, very end.
And if you look at this church,this church was extremely poor
compared to even that smallchurch in Buckeye.
They really didn't haveanything.
(48:22):
They were poor and materialthings.
And Christ says you are stillrich, you're still rich in love.
And that's what Jesus is sayingand that's what we have to
understand.
And that's not an easy thing todo in America.
(48:44):
It's a very difficult thing todo and so he's encouraging them.
He said the devil is going topersecute them and try to
destroy them.
So I want you to understandsomething, ladies and gentlemen
(49:06):
I want you to understand thatthere's two churches.
As John starts writing to theseseven, as this drama starts
unfolding, we got Smear and avery poor church, and they're
going to be persecuted.
We got one that won't toleratefalse doctrine, but their love
(49:28):
has grown cold.
This is a warning to allchurches across the globe.
This is a warning to allchurches, especially in america,
to repent for the materialism,to show love, to not do not lose
that love, do not focus on themoney, do not focus on the
(49:52):
material, do not focus on thematerial possessions.
And don't tell certain peoplethat are serving in ministry
that I've heard of say you justdon't fit in here.
We're not a business.
We carry on the business of theMessiah.
Our trademark is loving oneanother and forgiveness, and
(50:12):
there is a place for everysingle Christian in the church.
It should not be a good oldboys club, and people should be
serving.
There should even be teachersthat have the ability to teach
without a PhD or a master'sdegree or a doctorate, and we
need to spend more timespreading them tentacles of love
(50:34):
, out and using people and stopadopting the mindset of the
qualifications have to be builton a formal education.
I have a formal education and Ican tell you this every day.
There are people sitting inyour congregation that are
(50:55):
powerful, filled with the spirit, that want to be used, that are
not being recognized.
Do not let love grow cold.
Hold on to the word, especiallyif you start getting money in
your churches.
So this book of revelationsbefore the end of the world
(51:20):
comes and before the persecutioncomes for the jews and the
seals start being broken and thetrumpets start being blown to
enact what is being described inthe seals being broken is a
description in an unfoldingdrama, but there is a warning to
all churches going out beforethis play goes forward.
(51:40):
Ladies and gentlemen, we aregoing to end here.
I love you, but I want to prayfor you before I exit this show.
I exit this show.
Most glorious God.
Thank you for giving us awarning and admonition as we
start and journey through thebook of Revelations.
We love you.
(52:02):
We recognize you as theglorious king you are, as the
loving Christ.
Fill our hearts with joy andnever let us forget our first
love.
Let us not grow cold, and whenwe do receive riches and
blessing, please keep us humble.
We beg that you keep us humble.
(52:23):
These material possessionscannot help us get closer to you
.
They can be a stumbling blockand help us bless others with
those possessions.
And, lord, let us not getpuffed up with knowledge.
And when we do, bring us downto a state of humbleness through
(52:45):
a person or circumstance, andwe ask that you bless, more than
anyone anything, those that aresuffering martyrdom and
persecution for your name's sake.
Lord, god, we love you, wehonor you and we bless you, and
(53:05):
we pray that this message goesout to the very end of the earth
.
Amen, ladies and gentlemen,until next time.
This is Pastor Joshua.
God bless you all.
I love you and I.
This is Pastor Joshua.
God bless you all.
I love you and I will hear fromyou soon.
God bless you.
Live from the Saints Headquarters in Tolleson,
arizona, spreading the Gospel,equipping the Saints, standing
for the word of truth,proclaiming God's grace.
Now, on a podcast near you,welcome your host, pastor Joshua
, on the Saints Will OvercomeMinistries.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
This is Pastor Joshua.
I am back.
It's an honor and a pleasure tobe with you.
Ladies and gentlemen, last timewe talked about the introduction
to Revelations and I reallywant to talk about this
introduction a little bit moreand my particular stance on what
I believe about Revelations.
(01:14):
I believe that the majority ofRevelations was fulfilled in the
first century after the deathof Christ.
I don't believe that themajority of it takes place in
the first century after thedeath of Christ.
I don't believe that themajority of it takes place in
the future, and I ask that youbear with me, you stay with me,
you understand my position as wego along and journey through
(01:35):
this book of Revelations, and Iwant to read a chapter to you so
you can get my position, andthen we'll carry on where we
left off.
This is matthew 24.
In this particular chapter, alot of people talk about and
believe that this is whathappens at the end of the times,
(01:57):
at the end of the world.
So we're going to start onmatthew 24, verse 1.
We're going to start on Matthew24, verse 1.
So here we go, guys, here we go, ladies and gentlemen.
Jesus left the temple and waswalking away with his disciples,
came up to him to call hisattention to its buildings.
Do you see all of these things,he asked Truly.
(02:20):
I tell you not one stone herewill be left upon another.
Every one will be thrown down.
As Jesus was sitting on theMount of Olives, the disciples
came to him privately.
Tell us.
They said, when will thesethings happen and what will be
the sign of your coming at theend of the age?
(02:41):
Now, a lot of individualsinterpret this different.
Now, a lot of individualsinterpret this different.
And the New InternationalVersion says the end of the age.
Some dynamic equivalents orcontinuums will say at the end
of the world.
So I like this interpretationbecause I believe it's the end
of the age and the end of theJewish age, in a sense of this
(03:05):
particular time frame in history.
Now, what does the word comingmean?
Does it mean coming at the endof the world, as many futurists
believe when they interpretatethis verse?
Some commentators, there's manyindividual theologians that
(03:26):
believe coming means coming injudgment, and Matthew 24 has to
do with the genre of aapocalyptic judgment language
that this chapter is written in,which I'm basically sympathetic
, to which that's my belief.
(03:46):
Now let's look at Jesus'sresponse to his disciples.
Jesus answered watch out thatno one deceives you, for many
will come in my name claiming Iam the Messiah and will deceive
many.
There were those individuals inthe first century that were
(04:07):
claiming to be Messiah.
So this happened in the firstcentury and this was happening.
You will hear of wars andrumors of wars, but see to it
that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, butthe end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nationand kingdom against kingdom.
(04:29):
There will be famines andearthquakes in various places.
All of these things are thebeginning of birth pains, and
you know what?
This is true as it was backthen, as it is now.
There's wars and rumors of wars.
(04:50):
Look what's going on today withRussia, with Ukraine, with Gaza
, with Israel, with the UnitedStates getting involved.
So there's a far, in a sense, afar outre reaching prophetic
fulfillment of this, but there'sa historical fulfillment of
this, which I believe matthew 24is talking about.
(05:14):
We have to remember, ladies andgentlemen, that the jews, they
were anti-christ back then, andI'm not anti-Semitic by any
means, so please nobodymisinterpret that we have
Judeo-Christian values, but theyactually believe that he is not
the Messiah.
They wanted a physical Messiah,they wanted a king like David.
(05:39):
And Christ is predicting ajudgment against the nation of
Israel and he's going to comeand judge them and that's what
he's going to do for theirapostasy, for their blasphemy.
And this takes place.
(06:01):
And this was fulfilledliterally in AD 70 under Titus.
Titus destroyed Jerusalem andthe temple buildings
Figuratively.
No stone was left upon oneanother.
There was an excavation done in1968 and uncovered a large
(06:31):
amount of these stones.
False messiahs, wars, famines,earthquakes all occurred in the
40 years between Christ'scrucifixion, around AD 30-33,
and the destruction of thetemple happened in AD 70.
Josephus, a first centuryJewish historian, mentions all
of these things, all of theseacts.
So we have to understand andput all of these things into
(06:57):
context.
The labor pains theydemonstrate a baby that the body
wants to deliver.
So all these things are goingto happen persecution, martyrdom
, apostasy, false prophets.
The wickedness of the nation,ladies and gentlemen, is what is
(07:18):
occurring.
Then you will be handed over.
Well, let's just back up alittle bit about the deception,
about the wars, the rumors ofwars.
And it says all these thingswill be the beginning of birth
pains, famines and earthquakes.
Then you will be handed over tobe persecuted and be put to
death, and you will be hated byall nations because of me.
(07:41):
And that time many will turnaway from the faith and will
betray and hate each other, andmany false prophets will appear
and deceive many people.
Because of the increase ofwickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, but the one whostands firm to the end will be
saved and this gospel of thekingdom will be preached in the
(08:03):
whole world as the testimony toall nations.
Then the end will come.
There's a disagreement on whatall nations mean, all the
nations within the Roman Empireand the end will come, the end
of what will come.
Well, like I believe, the endof the actual Jewish system will
(08:26):
come and the end of the actualworld in the sense of the modern
world in that geographicallocation, and that's what I
believe.
What is happening here is Jesusis prophesying judgment on the
Jewish population for abandoninghim as the Messiah coming to
(08:52):
look over them, wanting to lovethem, wanting to care for them.
But that did not happen.
So let's continue reading,ladies and gentlemen.
So when you see standing in theholy place the abomination that
causes desolation, spokenthrough by the prophet daniel,
(09:15):
let the reader understand.
Then let those who are in judeflee to the mountains.
And this is very important.
What do we have going on here?
The abomination that causesdesolation, and this was
predicted in Daniel 9, 27, 11,31, and 12, 12.
(09:39):
And a lot of individualscommentators believe that this
has to do with Antiochus,epiphanes and the desecration of
the temple, which is the holyplace, and that was fulfilled in
167 BC.
But there's a future event yetto come, that when Rome
(10:02):
destroyed the temple in ad 70.
So what I believe the comingmeans in this scripture is the
coming of judgment, the end ofthe world, the jewish system as
the jews know it, for abandoningand betraying christ not Not
(10:24):
all, because there was a very,very faithful remnant 144,000,
that fled to Pala.
That we will see in Revelations.
But these are the Jews, themajority that make up the nation
that abandoned the Messiah, andChrist isn't having it.
(10:45):
He's going to judge.
It will be a dreadful judgment,and he talks about the
abomination that causesdesolation through the prophet
Daniel and he says let those whoare in Judea flee to the
mountains.
Let no one on the housetop godown and take anything out of
the house.
We don't have housetops here inAmerica, but every Jew's house
(11:12):
had a little porch on the topwhere they could have a lookout
and then go sit up there, and itwas a common thing on the
housetop built in the compound.
Let no one go into the field,go back to get his cloak,
because it was an agrariansociety.
How dreadful it will be inthose days for pregnant women
and nursing mothers.
Pray that your flight will nottake place in the winter or on
(11:37):
the Sabbath, for then there willbe great distress, unequaled
for the beginning of the worlduntil now, never to be equaled
again.
So we have to understand christis trying to warn his people.
So as we move in to thisbeautiful book of revelations,
(11:59):
and we start from revelationschapter 1 and we go from verse
12 to 16 that's what we'repicking up today, ladies and
gentlemen, we have to understandthat I'm addressing this book,
pastor Joshua, from thestandpoint, the vantage point,
of the judgment taking place onthe Jewish system and nation for
(12:23):
abandoning Christ.
And God is going to use theRoman Empire to administer that
judgment, which is not a goodnation itself, which is a wicked
system and a wicked nationsitself.
But this is what God chooses todo.
So not everything was fulfilledin the first century, but a lot
(12:45):
was fulfilled in the firstcentury and you'll see as we go
down how I lay that timeline outas I go down through
Revelations and the history ofRevelations and I will throw
some idealist view in there, alittle bit of historicist and
futurist, a little bit ofhistoricist and futurist.
(13:08):
But my main teaching when yougo through this book is a
methodology, a partial preteristmethodology, but a methodology
of going through it andunderstanding what it is and not
specifically staying adherent100 to the partial preterist
view, because I believe allthese views that are explained
by commentators and theologians,scholars, are very, very good
(13:30):
points in each and every one ofthem.
So let's Pick up at revelations1, 12 through 16.
This is what John is seeing.
Then I turned to see the voicethat spoke with me and, having
turned, I saw seven goldenlampstands.
In the midst of the sevenlampstands, one was like the son
(13:53):
of man, clothed with a garmentdown to his feet and girded
about the chest with a goldenband.
His head and hair were whitelike wool.
And I want to stop right there.
You have a lot of Africanpeople, black people, they'll
(14:15):
say.
You know he was black becausehis hair was like wool.
And this is not talking aboutwhat his hair was, and this
scripture on verse 14 is talkingabout that.
His head and hair were likewool, as white as snow.
(14:35):
So it's talking about a color,it's not talking about the
texture.
So I want you to understand onething, ladies and gentlemen I'm
married to a black woman whichI love her very much.
But I want to tell you guyssomething this book is written
symbolically and so we can'ttake the majority of this book
(14:56):
literally.
The methodology approach inthis genre of writing is mostly
symbolic, but literalism isappropriate to its
interpretation of the book ofrevelations to some degree.
As white as snow and his eyeslike a flame of fire, basically
(15:20):
his piercing vision, christ sees.
All.
His hair is white as snow.
Eternal Christ is eternal.
The wisdom of Christ.
His feet were like fine brass,his judgment treading in the
winepress, as this book isunfolding, as is refined in a
(15:44):
furnace, and his voice as thesound of many waters.
He had in his right hand sevenstars, out of his mouth when a
sharp, two-edged sword.
His countenance was like thesun, shining in its strength.
So he has in his right handseven stars, which is the seven
(16:07):
churches that John is writing to, and out of his mouth went a
two-edged sword, and we have toremember this two-edged sword.
Is the gospel going out, is thejudgment going out, is his word
going out?
And so John's unfolding all ofthis, which is a beautiful
(16:33):
unfolding of the plan and thebeginning of what is going to
happen to the nation of Israel.
And so that is what's going onover here right now in the book
of Revelations, and you havethis golden band worn across his
(16:55):
chest, which is a symbol ofhigh rank in the ancient world.
You have a long linen garmentwhich is priestly Christ is the
high priest.
Give us white hair which ishonor and wisdom, like I was
saying, wisdom before Flamingeyes conveying his vision,
(17:18):
seeing all, piercing all thejudgment.
And so that's what we have tounderstand about this verse.
We have to understand is christis all powerful, christ is all
seeing, christ has all knowledge.
(17:41):
This is the one that is goingand that is worthy of breaking
every single seal, and we willsee that, as John is weeping and
sad and waiting, who is thisone that can open the seal?
(18:04):
It's this drama unfolding, thisbeautiful drama that's
unfolding, that we all need tosee and that we all need to take
in to our spirits and be in aweof what is actually happening
in this situation right now.
Situation right now.
(18:26):
So if we go back to Daniel,chapter 10, and we read verses 1
through 4, we can startunlocking what Daniel's talking
about when he witnesses themajesty.
(18:47):
So let me read Daniel, chapter10, verse 1 through 4.
In the third year of King Cyrusof Persia, a revelation was
given to Daniel, who was calledBelshazzar.
Its message was true and itconcerned a great war.
The understanding of themessage came to him in a vision.
At that time I, daniel, mournedfor three weeks.
I ate no choice food, no meator wine touched my lips and I
(19:12):
used no lotions at all until thethree weeks were over.
So Daniel, in a sense, is inthis time of cleansing,
spiritual cleansing, in thistime of mourning as his vision
starts unfolding.
For Daniel it's a time ofsoberness and a time of
seriousness, and I don't doubtDaniel was full of anxiety and
(19:36):
angst as his vision is beinguncovered and unveiled for him.
And as we pick up in verse 4, onthe twenty-fourth day of the
first month, I was standing onthe bank of the great river, the
Tigris.
I looked up and there before mewas a man dressed in linen,
with a belt of fine gold fromEupaz around his waist.
(20:01):
His body was like topaz, hisface like lightning, his eyes
like flaming torches, his armsand legs like the gleam of
burnished bronze and his voicesounded like a multitude.
So if we compare this to whatJohn is saying, we can
(20:25):
understand.
It's not saying what Christlooks like, in a sense, but what
Christ is like.
And this apocalyptic languageis extraordinary because John is
conveying the majesty and theglory of Christ.
So we talk about the sevenstars of Christ.
(20:52):
So we talk about the sevenstars which are the seven
churches right, the two-edgedsword, and that verse is given
as we continue, of these sevenstars, in verse 20.
So let's go from revelations 1through 17 to 19 now.
And when I saw him, john that is, I fell at his feet as dead,
(21:12):
but he laid his right hand on me, saying to me Do not be afraid,
I am the first and the last.
I am he who lives and was deadand behold, I am alive
forevermore.
Amen.
And I have the keys to Hadesand of death.
(21:33):
Write these things which youhave seen and the things which
are, and the things that willtake place after this.
So, if we notice, john falls tohis feet like he was dead when
he sees the majesty of Christ,because it was so awe-inspiring
(21:55):
and his presence was so powerfulhe could barely even handle it.
That's how majestic God is,christ is and he held the keys
to Hades and death and he raisedhimself with his own power,
(22:22):
with the power of God.
John is seeing a miraculous,miraculous vision.
Hades will not prevail againstthe church.
That comes from Matthew 16, 18.
And Jesus is the one who holdsthem keys to Hades and death.
He can unlock and open thegates, he can shut the door and
(22:43):
he resurrects the saints on thelast day.
So, as John is told to writethese things down which he has
seen, he's in awe of what he iswitnessing in front of him
through this vision.
So this is an amazing, amazingsituation that is happening as
(23:04):
John is writing all of this down, the apocalypse, and we have to
understand that.
I believe the majority that thisis taking place in the first
century.
When we talk about the sevenstars in revelations 120, we
(23:28):
have to understand what John istelling us, what he's describing
, the mystery of the seven starswhich you saw in my right hand,
the seven golden lampstands.
The seven stars are the angelsof the seven churches and the
seven lampstands which you saware the seven churches.
(23:52):
So I had that transversed alittle bit.
The seven stars are the sevenangels, but the lampstands are
the churches.
Understand that there aretheologians and commentators
that believe the seven stars andthe seven golden lampstands are
(24:13):
two different things.
Some individuals believe thatangels mean angelic beings
guarding the seven churches,while others believe the seven
messengers or the sevenministers are the ones
delivering this message asthey're reading the letter to
John.
Either way, they're overseersof the church and that's what we
(24:39):
have to understand.
They're working hand in hand bythe providence of God.
So John is revealing thesethings to the seven churches
through the messengers.
God is giving this vision.
Jesus Christ is giving thisvision through John.
(25:02):
So there's a lot happeningright here.
The seven spirits, and so thisgoes on and on and on in the
book of Revelations, and this isa beautiful book.
This is a book that is verydifficult and hard for a lot of
(25:23):
people to understand.
This book by no means is easy,and that's why we're going
through this book right now, aswe speak, and that's why at the
beginning, I was talking aboutMatthew 24 and the signs of the
time, because there's quite afew different interpretations,
and I believe it's veryimportant that we go through
(25:46):
this book verse by versetogether so we can get more of a
general understanding of whatJohn is revealing through Jesus
Christ, the Alpha and Omega, thebeginning and the end which
Christ is, the vision of the Sonof man writing to the churches,
(26:06):
the seven churches.
The historicists believe thatthese are seven different ages,
which I disagree with.
I don't believe they're sevendifferent ages Seeing the seven
golden lampstands, the Son ofman clothed in a robe, the stars
having the keys to death inHades, and so these are very
(26:33):
important things that are goingto lead up in a dramatic play,
in the sense, to sort of speak,that we need to pay really,
really close attention to.
And he talks about Revelations 2, 1 through 7, about a letter to
Ephesus.
So let's continue reading aboutthe letter to Ephesus.
(26:56):
To the angel of the church ofEphesus, write these things, I
say he who holds the seven starsin his right hand, who walks in
the midst of the seven goldenlampstands, I know your works,
your labor, your patience andthat you cannot bear those who
(27:20):
are evil.
And you have tested those whosay they are apostles and are
not, and have found them liars.
I want to stop right there,ladies and gentlemen.
Christ is encouraging,complimenting, exhorting the
church in emphasis and says youguys do not tolerate false
(27:43):
teachers, you do not toleratewolves.
And I go through this in my book, the American Jesus America's
Quest to Redefine the Savior.
And I want you to answeryourself a question as we're
reading this how many churchesin America have you seen and
heard entertain false preachers?
(28:07):
Seen and heard entertain falsepreachers?
Wolves, liars, selling thegospel, using it as a sales
manual, hurting the congregation?
Luke 6, give me a tithe, giveme the 10%.
I've never seen a situationwhere God hasn't given you back
(28:28):
more for giving.
Well, that's an anathematizedinterpretation of the book of
Luke.
Those people were extremelypoor.
We know about the widow's mightand we know God honors giving.
(28:52):
But for a false wolf to preachat the pulpit which most do in
america, and promise a return oninvestment, like it's on the
new york stock exchange and thesmp, is totally anti-biblical.
And that's why one of mychapters is called Materialism
or Messiah, because a lot ofthese churches are selling
Jesus's name.
They're just doing it in aheretical way which is fooling
(29:15):
the masses.
10% is the training wheels togiving, and giving to God is a
very, very good thing.
It's a biblical thing.
It's a mandate thing is howmuch you love him thing.
It's a biblical thing.
It's a mandate thing is howmuch you love him.
But then a lot of wolves at thepulpit are extorting their
community of believers throughguilt and that is the model in
(29:35):
America for a lot of preachers.
And I will say it and I willnot back down from it.
But look at this letter toEphesus, as Christ is relaying
this information.
He says you can't bear thoseevil people.
You've tested them sayingthey're apostles.
A lot of people now in thechurches are saying they're
apostles.
You have found them liars.
(29:57):
They're Bereans, they'retesting the scripture, just like
Paul said, and you havepersevered and you have patience
and have labored for mynamesake and you have not grown
weary.
So they're getting complimentedin Ephesus on they are staying
(30:17):
strong to doctrine, they lovethe doctrine and we get a view
of the church in its totality,in its whole, and what Christ
wants from the church.
But he does have a situationhere, jesus, and he has a charge
(30:38):
to bring against Ephesus.
So their teaching is spot on,their non-tolerance is spot on.
But we have a problem here inverse 4.
Christ says, nevertheless, Ihave this against you, that you
have lost your first love.
(30:59):
What is the first love thatJesus is talking about?
What is Christ trying to tellthe church in Ephesus that Jesus
is talking about?
What is Christ trying to tellthe church In Ephesus that they
have lost their first love.
Remember, therefore, from whereyou have fallen, repent and do
(31:21):
your first works, else I willcome to you quickly and remove
your lampstand, which is yourchurch.
Remember from its place, unlessyou repent, but this you have,
that you hate the deeds of theNicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear, let him hearwhat the Spirit says to the
churches, and that's capitalSpirit, right spirit.
(31:44):
Right.
To him who overcomes, I willgive you from the tree of life,
which is in the midst of theparadise of god.
So we have a lot going on here.
They're teaching a spot on.
Their non-tolerance for peoplethat are lying is spot on.
(32:07):
And this city, ephesus, has apopulation around 250,000, so
it's a big city.
It's one of the most largestimportant cities in the Roman
province of Asia.
But they had a cult within thiscity and it was devoted to
Artemis Diana, and so you had alot of pagan worship going on in
(32:28):
this city, the temple to thegoddesses, to the goddess, and
this was considered one of theseven wonders of the world.
So the church of Ephesus wasestablished by Paul in a city
that was heretical, in a citythat was heretical, that
practiced a lot of culticworship, and that was probably
(32:54):
very difficult for the Ephesians.
Can you imagine beingsurrounded by a city of pagan
cult worship?
And there had to be persecutiongoing on?
There just had to be a lottrying to survive an environment
of such, and so their love,their love, has grown cold.
They've forgotten their firstlove, and there's probably
(33:17):
elements of some peoplepracticing idolatry and not
staying true to the word, and sothat is a situation that is
going on.
This church is being tested.
Man, I could imagine, if thatwas going in our day, how we
would hold up we we can't evenhold up in a lot of these
(33:39):
churches in a system of nothingbut materialism and luxuries
that are beyond anything we canimagine.
To me.
We haven't even been tested inAmerica yet.
We have not even dealt with asituation close to this, and so
(34:00):
that is the situation that'sgoing on, and Christ the one
that holds the stars in hisright hand in the midst of the
seven golden lampstands whatthat has to do with is Jesus'
sovereignty and his majesty.
He's controlling all of this.
He is God, he is Jesus, he isthe Son of God, he is the High
(34:27):
Priest and he affirms theknowledge of the.
He is the High Priest and heaffirms the knowledge of the
positive things that they'redoing.
I mean, their labor is right on, their patience is right on,
it's what he loves about thechurch, and they don't tolerate
evil, and they were exercising alot of discernment on keeping a
lot of these false actors outof the church, and this was a
(34:54):
beautiful thing.
Can you imagine how much troubleour churches are in?
We are in a lot of trouble herein America.
We are in a lot of trouble herein America.
I mean, we focus on coffeeshops and programs and all of
these things, and people leavethe church and a lot of them are
(35:16):
angry during the day, rightwhen they leave, they're almost
ramming people off the freewayand it's almost like a lot of
the love ends where the doormeets, the door jam and they
walk out.
And not being judgmental, but Isee it and this is a problem in
our modern day churches you walkout, you go right back into the
(35:38):
world of self-centeredness andidolatry of.
I am my own god and I'mencouraging all believers to
stay strong, to reject the falseteaching, to reject the lies,
to don't fall victim to thedevil's deeds, but stay true to
(36:02):
teaching.
Don't forget your first love.
And Christ tells the churchrepent and do the things that
you need to do, that you did atfirst, meaning we all need to
repent, I need to repent, we allneed to repent and always come
back to our first love everysingle morning.
(36:26):
And Jesus condemns theNicolaitans and they were a
heretical sect and their nameliterally means victory people,
and they promoted false teaching, idolatry, immorality and they
basically taught the disgustingedicts of Balaam and Jezebel, as
(36:49):
you look at in verse 14 and 20.
And the Ephesian church said wedetest Balaam, we detest
Jezebel.
And Jezebel was a very, very,very evil, wicked woman, ladies
and gentlemen, and her namelives on in infamy to this very
(37:13):
day.
So Christ commends this church.
He says you've resisted evil,you have vanquished the false
apostles, the nicolaitans.
You want nothing to do withtheir teacher or their
traditions and their teachers,because they were pure, pure
(37:35):
evil that were bringing down thechurch.
Like a lot of false teachersare doing this today.
They're Nicolaitans and they'redoing the same thing and
they're just calling itsomething else.
And Nicholas was the main guythat was starting this cult.
That's why it started andthat's why it was called the
Nicolaitans.
And we can go back and we cango look at Acts 6, 5.
(38:00):
They became a heretical sect.
So John is writing as kind oflike an, in a sense, the vision
that Christ is revealing to him.
They have not become weary,they forgot about their first
love, and so that is the thingthat Christ has to bring against
(38:27):
them.
But they're loyal when it comesto the word.
And Christ says he gives awarning I can remove your
lampstand.
This does not have to do withthe second coming.
I don't believe it has to dowith an admonishment of judgment
(38:48):
.
So Christ is saying hey, girdyourself up and get back to the
basics.
I need you to do these things.
I need you to come back to me.
I love you and I do not want tolose this church and I do not
(39:13):
want to remove the lampstand.
I want to keep the lamp stampstrong and I want you to conquer
so you can eat from the tree oflife.
And these are what he's sayingto the seven churches, because
you got to remember, the sevenchurches are the light of the
world.
(39:33):
The lamp are the light of theworld.
The lampstands light up thedarkness.
And I really want to go throughand I want to talk about the
letter to Smyrna and we're goingto stop after this letter
because this is going to take along time to go through this
(39:54):
book.
I mean, we're basically justhitting the introduction Letter
to Smyrna, revelations 2, 8through 11.
So remember the church inEphesus.
They don't tolerate no falseteaching, but they're losing
their love and I believe part ofthat love was the love amongst
each other.
They were headstrong in theirtheology but they were weak in
(40:19):
their hearts showing love to oneanother and to Jesus Christ
himself.
So the love kind of grew cold.
It grew cold, but the theologywas spot on.
And I've noticed when I went toa lot of Protestant churches
around the valley, not a lot.
So I don't want to say that,but I went to a couple and that
was a situation of one church.
I had to leave.
The theology was just amazing,but the heart of the church, the
(40:47):
love, was cold, and so I left.
Revelations 2, 8 through 11.
And to the angel of the churchof Smyrna write these things say
the first and the last, he whowas dead and came to life.
I know your works, tribulationand poverty.
So this is a poor church.
(41:09):
They don't have a lot of money.
Christ is looking at theirworks, but you are rich and I
know the blasphemy of those whosay they were Jews and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
So there's an element of Jewsthat are blaspheming the
Christians and the church inSmyrna in the church in Smyrna,
(41:35):
and Jesus is saying that theyare the synagogue of Satan, that
they are anti-Christ, that theyare working against the church,
and he is witnessing this andhe's not going to tolerate it
much longer, that he is going todeal with this and he's
(41:59):
encouraging them and praisingthem and he sees their suffering
.
And this was a big city, it wasa harbor city and it was right
around 35 miles north of Ephesusand this church in Smyrna in
(42:22):
the city.
It was a beautiful city, he hada civic pride and it was
supposedly the place to Homer'sbirthplace, where he was born.
It was an important center ofemperor worship and a home to
the goddess Roma.
So you have a big pagan element.
(42:43):
One of the greatestphilosophers was born there.
So there was a high degree ofidolatry going on there and
these Jews were being persecuted.
This Jewish church, thisGentile Church I should say the
mixture of both it was beingpersecuted by Jews.
Jews were afflicting them,gentiles were afflicting this
(43:08):
church, calling those Jews thesynagogue of Satan.
We have to remember Smyrna hada population of Jews and they
were persecuting ChristiansInstead of recognizing who these
(43:32):
Christians were and who theseChristians were worshiping.
But Jesus says this Do not fearany of those things which you
are about to suffer.
Indeed, the devil is about tothrow some of you in prison,
that you may be tested.
You will have tribulation forten days, be faithful unto death
(43:54):
and I will give you the crowdof life.
I want you to think about that.
They're gonna throw you inprison.
You're gonna face an intense,brief persecution and testing
and you can possibly die.
(44:15):
That's a big deal.
That's not something to takelikely.
I have not even sufferedanything close to that and I
pray to god if you're listeningto this radio show and you're in
a time of tribulation andsuffering there are people that
listen to show in africa and andSudan and all over the world
(44:36):
that I encourage you to pray toChrist to give you that faith,
because that faith is a gift andI do not take it lightly and do
not say this lightheartedly,because I've never had to face a
persecution as such and Ibelieve the only way I could is
(44:56):
if God strengthened me.
I don't have it within myselfto do it.
There's just no way I couldn'tdo it if and if I wanted to, and
that's a situation where Christhas to do this, that Christ has
to come through, and I'mpraying for all of you that are
(45:16):
going through this persecutionand I pray, in your time of
testing, which will probablycome to the United States one
day, that we can all get throughthis and that I can be a
faithful martyr of that timeever called, and that is not an
easy task.
I believe those people inheaven have such rewards and
held to the highest degree byChrist, because it's not an easy
(45:41):
thing and an easy burden tobear.
He who has an ear, let him hearwhat the Spirit says to the
churches.
He who overcomes shall not behurt by the second death, so
that second death will notdestroy you.
The lake of fire hades shallnot take your life from you,
(46:08):
christ is saying, even if theykill you, the second death,
which is the judgment, so tospeak, for the righteous and the
damned, that will have no powerover you, because christ is the
arbitrator of everything.
He holds the keys in his hand.
He's the one who grants eternallife during this time of
(46:30):
persecution and tribulation asit's escalating I mean a
generation later, polycarpsuffered martyrdom, polycarp was
persecuted, polycarp wasdestroyed and he hung in there
(46:53):
to the very last moment.
Ladies and gentlemen, christ isthe first and the last.
He said even in your poverty,you're rich.
I remember a story where Itraveled all the way to a small,
small, small city of buckeyetown and the elders gather
(47:14):
around me and they said thechurch was almost 100 years old.
And the elders and the pastorgo.
Why won't our church grow.
All these other churches gotpeople, they got wealth, they
got riches and they were a veryfaithful church.
I just walked in.
It was like a wild west scene.
I walked in and sat in the backand just a new person me coming
(47:35):
in.
They were just amazed becausethey never had that in a long
time.
And I told them you guys are afaithful church, don't covet so
many expensive things in yourchurch and programs.
I understand why you're theposition you're in and money's a
good thing, why you're theposition you're in and money's a
(48:00):
good thing.
But also it can corrupt.
The money can corrupt.
I've seen it a lot in churchesand money becomes worship.
So just hold on to your firstlove, which is jesus christ, and
do not let that go to the very,very, very end.
And if you look at this church,this church was extremely poor
compared to even that smallchurch in Buckeye.
They really didn't haveanything.
(48:22):
They were poor and materialthings.
And Christ says you are stillrich, you're still rich in love.
And that's what Jesus is sayingand that's what we have to
understand.
And that's not an easy thing todo in America.
(48:44):
It's a very difficult thing todo and so he's encouraging them.
He said the devil is going topersecute them and try to
destroy them.
So I want you to understandsomething, ladies and gentlemen
(49:06):
I want you to understand thatthere's two churches.
As John starts writing to theseseven, as this drama starts
unfolding, we got Smear and avery poor church, and they're
going to be persecuted.
We got one that won't toleratefalse doctrine, but their love
(49:28):
has grown cold.
This is a warning to allchurches across the globe.
This is a warning to allchurches, especially in america,
to repent for the materialism,to show love, to not do not lose
that love, do not focus on themoney, do not focus on the
(49:52):
material, do not focus on thematerial possessions.
And don't tell certain peoplethat are serving in ministry
that I've heard of say you justdon't fit in here.
We're not a business.
We carry on the business of theMessiah.
Our trademark is loving oneanother and forgiveness, and
(50:12):
there is a place for everysingle Christian in the church.
It should not be a good oldboys club, and people should be
serving.
There should even be teachersthat have the ability to teach
without a PhD or a master'sdegree or a doctorate, and we
need to spend more timespreading them tentacles of love
(50:34):
, out and using people and stopadopting the mindset of the
qualifications have to be builton a formal education.
I have a formal education and Ican tell you this every day.
There are people sitting inyour congregation that are
(50:55):
powerful, filled with the spirit, that want to be used, that are
not being recognized.
Do not let love grow cold.
Hold on to the word, especiallyif you start getting money in
your churches.
So this book of revelationsbefore the end of the world
(51:20):
comes and before the persecutioncomes for the jews and the
seals start being broken and thetrumpets start being blown to
enact what is being described inthe seals being broken is a
description in an unfoldingdrama, but there is a warning to
all churches going out beforethis play goes forward.
(51:40):
Ladies and gentlemen, we aregoing to end here.
I love you, but I want to prayfor you before I exit this show.
I exit this show.
Most glorious God.
Thank you for giving us awarning and admonition as we
start and journey through thebook of Revelations.
We love you.
(52:02):
We recognize you as theglorious king you are, as the
loving Christ.
Fill our hearts with joy andnever let us forget our first
love.
Let us not grow cold, and whenwe do receive riches and
blessing, please keep us humble.
We beg that you keep us humble.
(52:23):
These material possessionscannot help us get closer to you
.
They can be a stumbling blockand help us bless others with
those possessions.
And, lord, let us not getpuffed up with knowledge.
And when we do, bring us downto a state of humbleness through
(52:45):
a person or circumstance, andwe ask that you bless, more than
anyone anything, those that aresuffering martyrdom and
persecution for your name's sake.
Lord, god, we love you, wehonor you and we bless you, and
(53:05):
we pray that this message goesout to the very end of the earth
.
Amen, ladies and gentlemen,until next time.
This is Pastor Joshua.
God bless you all.
I love you and I.
This is Pastor Joshua.
God bless you all.
I love you and I will hear fromyou soon.
God bless you.
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