Page 29 - The Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2009

Forty years after Jesus spoke of His church in the gospels (Mat. 16 and 18), He spoke of its spiritual condition
in John’s day in the seven letters to His churches (Rev.1 through 3). Here is a brief summarization of the
spiritual condition of five of those seven churches:

Think about it: “I KNOW YOUR WORKS”
These were existing
conditions in the church just HAVE ZEAL FOR GOD, LOVES THE DOCTRINES
forty years after the BUT LACK IN LOVE THAT JESUS HATES”
commissioning given in
Matthew 16 and 18. DEAD AND DYING - ALLOWS JEZEBEL,
However, we must keep in MANY HAVE DEFILED A SELF-PROCLAIMED
mind that these are prophetic THEIR GARMENTS
letters describing the spiritual PROPHETESS, TO
condition of His churches TEACH AND BEGUILE
right up to His coming at the
rapture. We know that
because Jesus said to the
faithful ,“Hold fast what you
have till I come” (Rev. 2:25).

There is a lot of negativity spoken by IS HOT FOR WORLDLY THINGS,
Jesus toward these five expressions of His BUT LUKEWARM TOWARD
church. It could be overwhelmingly THE THINGS OF GOD
discouraging except for the two remaining JESUS FINDS NO FAULT
churches in which Jesus finds no fault. WITH THESE TWO CHURCHES
These are prophetic descriptions of Jesus’
churches right up to His coming. Both have
promised crowns (Rev. 2:10 and Rev. 3:11).
Philadelphia is specifically given the
promise of being raptured by Christ prior to
the “hour of trial which shall come upon the
whole world” (Rev. 3:10).

Recently, a man contacted me through my website with an urgent plea to me as a teacher of God’s Word
whom he respected. However his request was most unscriptural. He wanted me to read (and endorse) a
certain book that he got hold of which portrayed the church of Jesus Christ as “an apostate church” and as
constituting “Mystery Babylon, the Great Harlot.” The premise of the book was a call to all born-again believers
to “Come out of her My people...” (Rev. 18:4). I refused his request simply because God’s Word does not
convey that His church universal is in an apostate condition. There may indeed be apostates within a church,
but the church itself is never labeled by God as apostate, nor does Jesus ever say to His church, “come out of
her my people.” What He said was “Repent.”

The church has problems-many problems such as are enumerated in the seven letters to the churches. Jesus
calls five of those churches to repent, but He does not call any of His people to abandon the church as having
become apostate. The church of Jesus Christ is not “Mystery Babylon the Great Harlot” as this man’s book
stated. Mystery Babylon is the modern-day, pagan-based Roman Empire, not the church of Jesus Christ. I will
qualify that statement by stating that Roman Catholicism and its pagan popery is the religious leg of Mystery
Babylon. Catholicism is not biblical Christianity. It is not the true church of Jesus Christ as they claim any more
than is Mormonism “Christian.” These are counterfeit “Christian” religions. We do indeed need to “come out of
her-Mystery Babylon”, the modern-day pagan-based Roman empire, but we are not to come out of God’s
church!

As you can plainly see throughout the seven letters to the seven churches, God has faithful saints in the midst
of some very corrupted churches. Jesus said to Sardis, “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not
defiled their garments and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy” (Rev. 3:4). To some of those in
Thyatira Jesus said, “But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine...I will
put on you no other burden” (Rev. 2:24).