Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: They say prophecy is history written in advance. Today we'll be looking at a remarkable series of prophecies in the book of Revelation that outlines 2,000 years of church history, all predicted centuries before it ever happened. Right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctly first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today Dr. Gary Hedrick is teaching on the mystery of the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three. I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about two special resources we're making available during this series, so be sure to have a pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you and welcome listening friend to another edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches. Now today we come to the message to the church at Sardis. Look what he says in Revelation chapter three, beginning in verse one.

He says, "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." Now isn't that interesting? A church that is living, but dead. That is, it's physically alive and functioning, at least outwardly, but it's spiritually dead.

You see, a church can go through the motions of having worship services and programs and Sunday school and training union and a choir and everything else that goes along with having "church," and it can still be as dead as a doornail. Some churches go on like that for years. They're just going through the motions. Their worship services devolve into formalistic rituals where they go through the same routine Sunday after Sunday, week after week.

The order of service is printed in the weekly bulletin so everyone knows what they're supposed to do and when they're supposed to do it. When to stand, when to sit, when to kneel, when to pray. Everything becomes mechanical. You know what? If the Holy Spirit ever moved in on one of those services and things really started to happen, half the people would drop over dead from a heart attack, and probably the preacher, too. He says, "thou livest, and art dead."

Guest (Male): So this represents the Sardis period of church history. This one begins with the Reformation in the 16th century and continues on until about the year 1750. You see, this is when the religious world was thrown into upheaval by people who stood up against the religious powers that be.

People like Martin Luther, who on October 31st in the year 1517 nailed his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The interesting thing about the Reformation is that it brought lots of other smaller groups out into the open. Groups that had never been a part of Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy or the Byzantine tradition, but had been worshipping underground secretly or simply in seclusion to avoid persecution.

For centuries they'd been doing that, they were just always there underground, secretly, when necessary, carrying on the teachings of Jesus and his apostles. Many of them were strong futurists just like we are today. All the Reformation did was bring them out into the open. That's why he goes on to say that in the Sardis period, there are people who have not defiled their garments. And they shall walk with me in white, he says, for they are worthy, verse four.

In verse five he says that his true believers are overcomers and that they are clothed in white raiment, signifying the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us by faith. And that was the cry of the Reformation: justification by faith.

Then he goes on to the next message, verse seven. He says, "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." Here the glorified Messiah identifies himself as deity. "He that is holy," he says.

In Hebrew, Ha-Kadosh means the holy one. Al-Kadosh Yisrael, the holy one of Israel. The Jewish prayer book refers to God as Ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu, the holy one, blessed be he. And here Jesus applies that term to himself because he is God. Now the traditional Jewish formula would say, these things saith he that is holy, blessed be he.

But he leaves off the last part, Baruch Hu, blessed be he. Why? Because you don't bless yourself. So the Lord identifies himself as Ha-Kadosh, the holy one, or the one who is holy. Secondly, he is the one who is true.

Thirdly, he is the one who possesses the key of David. This is from Isaiah 22:22, where Eliakim was given the key of the house of David. In other words, he was given full authority to act on behalf of the Davidic throne. So when the Lord identifies himself as the one who possesses the key of David, he is again identifying himself as the one who possesses the full authority vested in the messianic office. He is prophet, priest, and king, and all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to him.

Then he says, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." This is the Philadelphian period of church history when the Lord opened the door for world evangelization.

This is the period from the early 1700s to the early 1900s. This is when we had the great revivals under George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, D.L. Moody, men like that. Those revivals gave rise to the greatest missionary outreach since the first century.

It began with the Moravians in 1732. Then in 1793 William Carey set sail for India. In 1865 J. Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission. There was an explosion of missionary activity that literally blanketed the world with the gospel. It was an open door, you see, and no man could shut it. Even today there are few places in the world where the gospel has not been or where missionaries cannot go.

In verse 10 he says, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Remember, we said there are aspects of these seven messages that apply to all churches in all seven periods. And here we have a wonderful promise that the church will not go through the tribulation. He will keep us from the hour of temptation that will come upon all the world.

And finally, beginning in verse 14, we have the message to the church of the Laodiceans. He says, "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." In other words, he was the one who initiated the creative process. John 1:3 says all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. He is literally the beginning of the creation of God.

Then he goes on in verse 15, "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." You know what he's saying? He's saying you make me want to throw up.

Why? He gives the answer in the next verse, verse 17. "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: verse 18; 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."

Verse 19: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

How amazing that a church can have wealth and power and influence and yet Christ is left out. He's on the outside looking in, standing at the door and knocking. What a picture of the professing church in this Laodicean age in which you and I live, my friend.

It's a church that preaches a watered-down gospel of health, wealth, and prosperity and positive thinking and social action, but Christ is on the outside looking in. There's little true concern for spiritual things and for the souls of men. And the sad thing is they don't even have a clue that anything is wrong. They think they have need of nothing. That's the complacent, materialistic, worldly church in the Laodicean age, and that's right now, my friend.

Well, that brings us to the end of our study on the mystery of the seven churches and the seven periods of church history. By the way, there's a wonderful confirmation in the gospels of this sevenfold outline of church history. It's found in the seven parables of the kingdom of heaven in Matthew chapter 13. In Matthew 13, the parable of the sower is about the Ephesian period. The parable of the tares is the church at Smyrna.

The parable of the mustard seed is the church at Pergamos. The parable of the leaven is the church at Thyatira. The parable of the hidden treasure is the church at Sardis. The parable of the pearl of great price is the church at Philadelphia. And the parable of the dragnet is the church at Laodicea.

That dragnet collects all kinds of fish. They drag the net through that sea of end-time apostasy and collect an ecumenical amalgamation of every size and type of fish. It's all explained in our tape on the seven secrets of the kingdom if you're interested.

But that's the mystery of the seven churches, the seven major periods of church history, all predicted before they ever happened. Isn't it wonderful to know that no matter how bad things get, none of it takes God by surprise? He's in complete control. And notice after the 2,000 years of church history in Revelation chapters two and three, what do we have in chapter four? The rapture of the church. May that day come soon.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thanks for tuning in listening friend, glad you could join us today. Until next time, this is Gary Hedrick saying God bless you, take care, bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you Gary, and thank you listening friend for tuning in today. If you liked what you heard today, you will be pleased to know we've taken all of the programs in this series and placed them on one convenient CD entitled The Mystery of the Seven Churches. And it's yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives.

Also available is the companion chart adapted from the original drawn by Clarence Larkin in the early 1900s entitled The Messages to the Seven Churches Compared with Church History. This interesting chart shows how the messages to the seven churches in Revelation correspond to the seven successive periods of church history.

It's the perfect companion for this series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches. So that's the CD for $6 and the chart for $3, or both for a total of $9. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order.

If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, for another edition of Messianic Perspectives.

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