The Seven Churches Of Asia Minor And Bible Prophecy

Revelation 1:20, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

There is a popular teaching in many Baptist churches today, which says the seven churches in Revelation chapter 1 through 3 refer to time periods. This is dispensational teaching! Pastor Jack Hyles hated and refuted this false doctrine, and I agree with him. The most popular of the seven churches is the Laodicean church, which is the “lukewarm” church:

Revelation 3:15-18, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

I often compare spiritually lifeless places like Pensacola Christian College (PCC) to the Laodicean church. Sadly, the leaders at PCC only want to make more money, they refuse to contend for the Christian faith. They refuse to expose the Devil's fake Bible revisions. You'll never heard false prophets exposes by name at PCC. Instead, the PCC camp are lukewarm, just like the lukewarm Laodicean church in the book of Revelation. Campus Church at PCC is cold, formal and lukewarm.

At PCC they are naked, wretched and blind, but they think they are prospering because they have lots of money, influence and followers. That is NOT true success! Pastor Joel Osteen is not even a born-again Christian! Osteen preaches the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, and errantly requires that people “repent of their sins” to be saved (which is no where taught in the inspired King James Bible). Yet, Pastor Osteen's cult has 50,000 members in attendance each week at the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

Kindly said, the size of the crowd is NOT a true indicator of one's success in God's sight. A humble pastor with a small congregation of 20 people out in the country can be a big success in God's eyes. Sadly, PCC is as the Laodicean church, blinded by their worldly success. PCC has a poor reputation for hurting people. As one of their own students rightly said: “At PCC the system always comes first, individual people do not matter.” She is absolutely correct! SHAME on the PCC camp for being respecters of persons!!!

Having said that, I do not believe that we are today living in the “Age of Laodicea” as dispensationalists like to claim. A dispensationalist is someone who believes that God dealt with humanity in different ways during different times. For example: Dispensationalists will claim that saints in the Old Testament lived in the Age of Law, but New Testament saints are now living in the Age of Grace. That is false doctrine! God's free gift of salvation has ALWAYS been by grace through faith in Christ. What saith the Scripture? Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

A popular false teacher of the 20th century was Pastor Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016). Dr. Ruckman errantly taught that people were saved by works in the Old Testament. Ruckman taught that because Old Testament saints lived under the Law of Moses, during the dispensation of the Age of Law, that they were required by God to keep the law to get to Heaven. What saith the Scripture? Romans 4:4, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” This Bible verse plainly refutes the so-called “Age of Law” heresy. This verse also plainly refutes Dr. Peter Ruckman's heresy that people were saved by works in the Old Testament. Romans 4:4 clearly teaches that if salvation has ever been “by works,” then it is of debt (i.e., God owes that individual salvation).

Dear reader, God does not owe you anything except to cast you into a burning Lake of Fire forever. You and I are guilty sinners! We have all disobeyed God's commandments. I sure have! I am not proud of my sins. I wish that I could go back and live my life over, and NOT DO some of the sinful things that I have done (i.e., sins of commission). 1st John 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” I also wish I could go back and DO things that I should have done (i.e., sins of omission). James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” We are all big sinners! I love something that Pastor Jack Hyles said: “The First Baptist Church of Hammond will become a great church when we stop saying, 'He has sinned' and 'She has sinned' and we start saying, 'We have sinned!'” Yes, I love that! This was the godly attitude of David in the Old Testament, who said in Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.”

Dear reader, you will have grown into a fine Christian, when you finally have the humble attitude that, “WE HAVE SINNED.” Dr. Jack Hyles preached a wonderful sermon (one of my favorite of his sermons) on this subject, called: 'The Good Man Versus The Spiritual Man.' The Apostle Paul sorrows that he IS a wretched sinner, not that he once WAS a dirty sinner. Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” The spiritual believer doesn't look down on other sinners; but rather, says to one's self: “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

Getting back to the main topic, the Laodicean church was an actual church in the city of Laodicea. The seven churches of Asia Minor would today be located in the country of Turkey in Europe. These were seven literal churches, each with its own pastor. Jesus Himself is the Author of the prophecy of Revelation (Revelation 1:1-2). And by the way, PLEASE do not ever refer to the book of Revelation as “Revelations” (plural). Even though this prophetic book of the Holy Bible does provide many revelations, it is the “revelation” (singular) of Jesus Christ to the reader. 

Did you know that the purpose of ALL Bible prophecy is to TESTIFY of Jesus Christ? Revelation 19:20, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” I love that! So when you are reading the Word of God, always keep your eyes open for how that particular passage of Scripture applies to Jesus. There is an old adage, that in a bad sense says: “To the man with a hammer in his hand, everything looks like a nail sticking up.” Well, in a good sense, to the man with Christ in His soul, he ought to look for Jesus in everything! Amen.

And did you know that the Holy Bible contains 31% prophecy? Yes, it is true. There are three types of prophecy in the Bible:

1. Messianic prophecy (i.e., predictions concerning Christ before and after He became incarnate; e.g., Jesus' virgin birth was foretold in Isaiah 7:14, which was 700 years before Christ was born)
2. Contemporary Prophecy (e.g., predictions now being fulfilled; Revelation 17:10-12 foretells of the 7th king, which is clearly the now forming sinister New World Order, from which the 8th king, Antichrist, will emerge)
3. Future prophecy (e.g., the pretribulation Rapture; 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4 teaches that the Church must be removed from earth before the Man of Sin can appear)

In a sense, since the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of ALL Bible prophecy, we could say that all prophecies are Messianic (past, present and future).

I don't like dispensational teaching. My favorite author on the subject of refuting dispensationalism is Evangelist Philip Mauro (1859-1952). Mauro authored a helpful book titled: 'The Gospel Of The Kingdom' in 1927. i love this book! At the end of the 19th century, Cyrus I. Scofield (1843-1921) was at the height of his career and popularity as a lawyer, politician and theologian.  Mr. Scofield is arguably considered by most fundamentalist Christians as the father of Dispensational teaching. But there was another man named Philip Mauro, also an attorney, who smelled a rat in Scofield's new theology. Whereas Scofield exalted the nation of Israel concerning the Kingdom of God, Mauro realized that it is the Gospel that should be exalted, and not Israel. I couldn't agree more.

Philip Mauro also realized that whereas Scofield's new doctrine of dispensationalism divided the Holy Bible into SEVEN segments, God has already made TWO great divisions to His Word of LAW and GRACE (or, respectively, OLD and NEW Testaments). Mauro does an excellent job expounding this truth in chapter 3 of his book, called: 'The LAW And The GOSPEL.' I thank God for objective thinking Christian men like Philip Mauro. Bravo!

Dear reader, God has already made TWO great divisions to His inspired Word, which emphasizes THE GOSPEL of the Kingdom of God. But dispensational teaching divides the Word of God into SEVEN (sometimes even EIGHT) portions, to emphasize the future Kingdom of Israel instead of the Gospel of free grace which saves men's souls (Romans 1:16).

Now, I know some godly pastors who preach using dispensational teaching. They are good men. I am okay with them using dispensational teaching, just so long as they are soulwinning pastors, and they DON'T idolize manmade Israel (the present day nation of Israel was created by the heathen United Nations in May of 1948). This is NOT the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. How do I know that? What saith the Scripture? 

Hosea 3:4-5, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.”

During the future 7-year Tribulation (which includes the New World Order), a remnant of Jews will repent (change their mind) to believe the Gospel. These will be 144,000 Jews, foretold of in the book of Revelation, who will get saved and be sealed by God for service. God will restore His covenant with Israel (“he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week,” Daniel 9:27b) during Daniel's 70th week, that is, during the 7-year Tribulation period. A week has 7 days. Daniel's 70th week will be 7 years. We know that it will be years because of Daniel 12:11, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”

So from the time that the Antichrist (the Beast, the Man of Sin) commits the Abomination of Desolation (the event when Antichrist exalts himself as the Messiah on earth, God) from the temple in Jerusalem (2nd Thessalonians 2:4; Matthew 24:15), there will be 1,290 days (which is 3 1/2 years). What saith the Scripture? Daniel 9:27, “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation 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.”

These Bible verses makes understanding the future so clear. I love the book of Daniel! Ironically, the prophet Daniel admitted that he couldn't understand what he was being inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen down (Daniel 12:8). As we just read in Daniel 9:27, please notice that the Abomination of Desolation happens in the “MIDST” of Daniel's 70th week. Well we just read in Daniel 12:11 that there will be 1,290 days from the Abomination of Desolation until Jesus Christ returns at the end of Daniel's 70th week. Clearly then, if there will be 3 1/2 years from the “midst” (middle) of the 70th week to the end, then it is only logical to conclude that there must also be 3 1/2 years before the “midst” of the week. This is how we know that the Tribulation period will last for 7-years. The Bible is very clear about this time frame.

But how do we know that God will not regather Israel until Jesus' Second Coming? For now Israel in part is blinded the Bible says, but once the Church is CAUGHT UP (1st Thessalonians 4:16-17), then the Jew's eyes will be opened and they will start repenting toward to God:

Romans 11:25, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

There is the answer! Israel will not be regathered until The Fulness Of The Gentiles is fulfilled. We are now living in The Times Of The Fulness Of The Gentiles. Luke 21:24, “And they [the Jews] shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” This Times Of The Fulness Of The Gentiles will end at the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the 7-year Tribulation. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

In Daniel chapter 2, we read about Nebuchadnezzar's image. God gave Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams. The image which Nebuchadnezzar saw is pictured below...

Nebuchadnezzar's Image From His Dream

The above image is helpful. Daniel 2:45, “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone [Jesus Christ] was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Here we learn that when Jesus comes back to earth (after the 7-year Tribulation period), Christ will smash the Gentile kingdoms of this world, and set up His new millennial Kingdom.

The Times Of The Fulness Of The Gentiles will be over when Christ returns to reign on earth! Jesus will literally sit upon David's throne in Israel, and reign as King over the whole earth, from the city of Jerusalem. All of us saints will help Jesus, reigning with Him over the earth (Revelation 20:6). Yes, you and I dear Christian believer will reign with Christ someday. What a blessed honor, grand opportunity and humble privilege!!! We will all have received our perfect resurrected bodies at the Rapture, and those saints killed during the Tribulation will be resurrected with immortal new bodies when Christ returns. Our bodies will be fashioned like unto the Lord's glorified resurrected body (Philippians 3:21).

Those lost sinners who get saved during the Tribulation period, will go into the millennium with their mortal sinful bodies. We will serve those people, knowing that “he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11b). We will reign with Christ as servants. Jesus will be the greatest of all servants, being a good and righteous King, who will reign over the earth with “a rod of iron” (Revelation 2:27, 12:5, 19:15). Bible prophecy is so exciting! Did you know that the Muslim Koran contains ZERO prophecy. That is because one wicked man, Muhammad, authored the ungodly Koran; whereas God almighty authored the inspired Holy Bible. There is no book in human history like the Holy Bible!

I hear atheists, mockers and skeptics denying, questing and provoking God with their blasphemy. Dear friend, the Bible itself is 100% solid conclusive PROOF that God exists! The Bible is comprised of 66 separate books, books penned by different men (approximately 40 men; we don't know who penned the book of Hebrews, but I think it was the Apostle Paul). These men spoke different languages. They varied in education and intelligence. Some were learned, but others unlearned. Some were rich, but others poor.

Most of these men never met one another. Some were farmers, others scholars. These 66 books were written over a time span of 1,700 years! Yet, these 66 books that comprise the canon of Scripture perfectly harmonize, so that a child of God can understand them. The blessed indwelling Holy Spirit teaches and guides us as saints into all truth (John 16:13). Only God could have given such a miraculous Book to humanity, in such a fascinating miraculous manner. Thank you for reading.