Freedoms Gate Ministries

Lesson 12

Review of the Seven Churches

We have just completed the study of the seven churches in Revelations. Before we can move on, we need to make sure we understand the foundation of this Book of Revelation. So you are required to write the answers to the following questions.

Who is the author of this Book?
What instrument was used to pen it?
Name each church and their good and bad characteristics.
Who received the letters?
How do these letters affect us?
What is done through the letters?

   I told you that some people believe these churches represent an age or time in mankind. Here are these ages of mankind and their meanings:

   Ephesus (first century): reveals ecclesiastical pretension and departure from first love, characterizing the closing of the apostolic period.

   Smyrna (92-315 AD): the period of the martyrs, concluding with the last persecution under Diocletian.

   Pergamum (315- 500 AD): the decreasing spirituality and increasing worldliness common to the reign of Constantine and stemming from his public patronage of the church.

   Thyatira (500-1500 AD): the Middle Ages with their cruel persecution of the saints of God.

   Sardis (1500-1700 AD): God's intervention by means of Reformation, the light of which is still burning

   Philadelphia (1700-1900 AD): the nineteenth century with its vast expansion of missionary activities.

   Laodicea (1900-????): the present general state of the professing church.

    These seven churches stand for God's love for His family in that He sees our faults and yet tells us how to remove them. For God could have left us in that state. But for Him to do that would be against all that He is. Read Luke 19:10, Genesis 3:15, II Peter 3:8-14. What do you see and hear?
Time is short for this world. None of us knows how short.

    In Revelation between Chapter 3 and 4, something takes place. This event marks bad news for some and very great joy for others. We call this the Rapture of the Church. You ask why I say this? Read Revelation 4:1 very slowly and listen to what you are reading. From this point on, the scene and the message change. Before we look at the new scene we need to visit the Rapture. In order to do that read Matthew 24:15-28, I Thessalonians 4:13-18, and I Corinthians 15:51-52.