A Covert Message from Heaven to the Church

What if you discovered there was a covert message sent from Heaven that has been hidden in plain sight? 

This  message actually exists and was sent directly to the Church – those who  are saved by grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is called  the Book of Revelation, and unlike what you may think, you can understand it, but it is written in a way that needs to be deciphered.  The great news is that the Church already has the keys to unlock this  cipher. We don’t have to be theologians, or bible scholars, or even  highly educated to read it and know what that message is. Likely you are  skeptical, but I can prove it. 

The  Book of Revelation is considered one of the most difficult books in the  Bible to read and understand, but when you realize that it is a covert  message from Heaven sent to God’s church, it starts to make sense. Of  course it’s not easy to understand. It was written for us – not the  world, not the unsaved, and not the enemy, so disguising its’ contents  is vital. When you view this book in its true light, we can see how  brilliant this method of relaying information is. In fact, it’s the same  method we use when trying to transmit secret intel from one entity to  another. We use a myriad of different methods to hide the message. If  you think about it, it’s a code or a cipher, but one that we were meant  to unlock. It wasn’t intended solely for the biblical elite, either. 

It is meant for every Christian

We  will jump right into this study of the Book of Revelation and look at  the seven churches that this book of prophecy is written to. It is  common to hear or read messages from people who go directly to a study  on the seven seals being opened in chapter 6 of Revelation, but so often  the churches to whom it was written, are bypassed. I believe it is of  the utmost importance to study the addresses to the churches because it  is a precursor to the rest of the book. It is addressed to us, but the  Lord has something to say to his church before we get there. 

The  letter to the church at Smyrna is one of the shortest letters to the  churches and at first glance does not appear to have a negative  attribute, or a correction from the Lord Jesus Christ. However, as we  break this down, verse by verse, we may see a different picture.

 As  previously stated in A Covert Message from Heaven Part 3 The Church at  Ephesus, the third part of this series in The Bible Brief, we find that  the letters to the churches found in the Book of Revelation follow a  certain pattern. It is as follows:

1. Identifier: the person speaking identifies himself

2. Positive attribute: the positive acts of the church

3. Negative attribute: those acts the Lord finds sinful or wanting

4. Corrective action: identify and repent

5. Warning: a command to correct what is wrong

6. Consequence: if there is no repentance 

7. Promise: a promise of reward to those who correct their ways. This promise also correlates with the positive attribute noted.

The  letter to the Church at Pergamos uses very strong language, and  descriptors, and it is of special note for this study. As we read the  text, we find that words are the key, or the main theme, of this letter. 

This  church was in grave danger.  As we can see through this letter, these  Christians had two things going for them: they did not deny the name of  Jesus and they held fast to his faith. However, the deadly problem they  faced was that they allowed two separate groups with false doctrines to  enter in their midst. The text doesn’t refer to these two outside groups  as though they were simply people in the same city, or even separate  groups who met and discussed ideologies in other places, or that they  just coexisted as neighbors who were in the building next door. That  likely happened everywhere, however the text alludes that they were  among the Christian believers, in fellowship with them and or “learning”  with them. 

In our study of the seven churches found in the Book of Revelation, we are  now at the Church in Thyatira. As we progress, we must keep in mind  that Revelation was written for the church, addressed to the church in  the beginning of the book, addressed to individual churches in the  letters we are studying here at The Bible Brief, and again, addressed to  the church at the end of the Book of Revelation. This means it was  written for his people, and it reveals it was not meant to be kept  secret or hidden from us. Its meaning is hidden from the world, the  enemy, and the unsaved – but not the church. We can see that it was  written in a way that its deeper meaning is cloaked in a sort of cipher,  but I believe that is for operational security. By studying the  scriptures, we can uncover the meaning, discover its message, and apply  it to modern times, our own lives, and our society, as a whole.  

The  letter to the church in Sardis in the Book of Revelation is sobering.  This letter is short, to the point, and is like a gut punch to the soul  because the Lord’s rebuke is so severe it leaves the reader hoping they  are not like the church of Sardis. This letter contains only six verses  to this church. 

Six verses. 

And not one good attribute. 

As  we have discussed in previous letters to the churches found in the Book  of Revelation, we see that the addresses to the churches follow a  similar pattern. It is as follows:

1. Identifier: the person speaking identifies himself

2. Positive attribute: the positive acts of the church

3. Negative attribute: those acts the Lord finds sinful or wanting

4. Corrective action: identify and repent

5. Warning: a command to correct what is wrong

6. Consequence: if there is no repentance 

7. Promise: a promise of reward to those who correct their ways. This promise also correlates with the positive attribute noted.

A Covert Message from Heaven Part 8 The Church in Philadelphia

The Church in Philadelphia

In  our study of the letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation, we  are now at the most talked about group – the Church in Philadelphia. The  church of today, and many current Bible teachers, try to align the  modern church to this church. 

However, it is our belief that this alignment may be erroneous.

It is the sincere hope of many well-believing Bible teachers and preachers, that the modern Christian church is the Church of Philadelphia, because this church is removed prior to the  tribulation and the great tribulation, as documented later in the Book  of Revelation. 

As we study this  church, we must look at key verses that describe the Church in  Philadelphia. These key identifiers, written more than 2,000 years ago,  do not exactly mirror the modern, western, church of today. We will look  at this further and try to identify who the modern equivalent might be.