Who Is Jesus? (p.2)

The following, should be sufficient to show that most if not all denominations are serving up and spewing out raw bills of goods on
virtually every aspect of the Christian journey, that God is well aware of this in which case it is therefore nothing new and that He is
sorely displeased (as He is—contrary to popular misperception—not tolerant of all views), given that the resolution to the differences
and other issues confronting the churches is now, as it was then, ever before us, between the pages of one, black (usually!) Book. He
gave no new “scriptures” throughout this time of verbal castigation (for most), which means that in His mind, what they had and knew
already then (what we have and know, now), was (is) more than adequate to rectify any and every wrong (II Tim. 3:14-17).

Jesus assumes a different identity in each of His dealings with the seven churches (Revelation 2:1-3:22), all intended to relate seven
aspects of His character, as He now lives out His roles as Chief Shepherd (knowing thoroughly His sheep—Jn. 10:14) and High Priest
(pleading our cases before the Father, as He sits beside Him on His throne--Heb. 5:6; 7:1-28; 8:1-2):

Ephesus The first of the “denominations” confronted by a Lord who holds all ministers in His right hand and is always present in the
midst of His Churches
1.        Their good side (by all outward appearances, they were headed in the right direction)
·        Recognized by the Lord as a congregation having begun well
·        intolerant of those who practice evil
·        tested all who claimed to be apostles of the Lord, in which case they were able to identify the “phonies”
·        showed great endurance and patience
·        worked tirelessly to further activity, which bore the Name of Jesus
·        intolerant of works of the Nicolaitans
2.        Their dark side: the accusation
·        They had left their First Love
·        In spite of all that activity, they were totally out of fellowship with the Lord
·        Nothing they did that was good was sufficient to hide the fact of their completely “fallen” state
3.        The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: removal of lampstand or loss of a position or place in the body of Christ which clearly implies, loss of
salvation
·        Remedy: repent (i.e., exercise a change in heart; think differently about their walk, which was contrary to the Will of God; turn
away form their wrongs)
·        The Promise: overcomers (i.e., those who obey the call to repentance), and only overcomers, will be allowed access to the Tree
of Life—that is, only these from the ranks of any wayward church can ever expect to obtain salvation

Smyrna The second church confronted by a Resurrected, living Lord, who is the First and the Last (meaning He has always been, and
always will be):
1.   Their good side
·        Recognized by the Lord for remaining faithful through tough times of affliction and poverty
·        Never gave in to evil speaking voiced against by the Jews (Judaizers? Satan’s emissaries for sure)
·        Given vote of confidence and encouraged to remain strong and committed in spite of rough roads ahead, instigated by the devil
himself, which for some would lead to false incarceration and death
2.        Their dark side
·        The Lord has no remarks of condemnation for this church
3.        The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: none
·        The remedy: no need
·        The promise: fidelity even in the face of death will net the Crown of Life and deliverance from the second death—the lot of the
devil, his angelic accomplices, all the unsaved lost, and believers who strayed from the straight and narrow

Pergamos The third church confronted by a Lord who has a two-edged sword protruding from His mouth (symbolic of keen discernment, able to make full and
accurate assessments of the thoughts and intents of the every heart--Hebrews 4:12):
1.   Their good side
·        Recognized for clinging to and hold high the Name of the Lord
·        Known for not denying the faith even in life threatening situations, even when it cost another valued witness his in anti-Christ activity provoked by Satan
2.        Their dark side: formation and maintenance of unholy, spiritually unwholesome alliances; knowing reception and acceptance (if not promotion) of
proponents of anti-God, anti-Christ sentiment among them
·        Tolerant of the purveyors of Balaamic teaching
·        Tolerant of the teachings of the Nicolaitans (no explanation even given as to who they were or what they taught), a group definitely not on His most favored
persons list
3.        The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: while their actions may have been hidden from the eyes of outsiders, the Lord knew, for which cause they risked a personal
encounter with Him who has a thorough understanding of the thoughts and intents of their hearts
·        The remedy: repent; get rid of the offending parties among them
·        The promise: overcomers will be given of the hidden manna (a likely metaphor for that which gives life eternal, given that manna harkens back to the life
sustaining heavenly food God provided for the Israelis in the wilderness wandering), and a stone with his new name written there on

Thyatira The fourth church confronted by the Son of God, who has eyes like flaming fire, and feet like brass of extremely high luster:
1.   Their good side
·        Recognized by the Lord for love and commitment to ministry
·        Known for having faith, patience, and proper works (marked by measurable improvements over their beginning)
·        Not all in this church guilty of gross sin cited below
2.        Their dark side: formation and maintenance of unholy, spiritually unwholesome alliances; knowing reception and acceptance an unrepentant woman
(Jezebel) whose teachings corrupted the church
·        Caused fornication among the saints (literally or figuratively)
·        Promoted idol worship among the members, through eating of things sacrificed thereto
·        Tolerance given to teaching of “deep” things of Satan
3.        The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: all continuing in their sins with Jezebel will be duly and severely punished, along with here
·        The remedy: repent or have a change of heart; think differently; turn away from all such sin
·        The promise: nothing more requested or expected of those who were faithful throughout the “dark side” of others in the church; all

Sardis The fifth church confronted by the Lord Jesus who controls the Seven Spirits of God and the seven stars (representing all the ministers of the churches):
1.   Their good side
·        A church spiritually bankrupt, about whom the Lord has nothing good to say—beyond the fact that they got off to the right start
·        Only a few souls still on the straight and narrow
2.   Their dark side
·        A church in near total spiritual bankruptcy, virtually no walk with God
3.   The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: at risk of having names blotted out of Scroll of Life (thereby loosing salvation)
·        The remedy: remember their beginning and repent (there’s always hope and forgiveness for a backsliding Christian, as long as he is alive!)
·        The promise: the non-offenders, considered worthy, will walk the Christ in white (symbolic of righteousness); overcomers will be clothed in white, names will
not be blotted out of Scroll of Life, will be acknowledged before the Father and His angels

Philadelphia The sixth church confronted by a the Holy One, the True One, the One having the keys of David:
1.   Their good side
·        The Lord was thrilled with their walk of faith,
·        Faithful in their weakness, in the midst of opposition from Jews (Judaizers?), never denied the Name of the Lord; kept His word
2.   Their dark side
·        The Lord has no remarks of condemnation for this church
3.   The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: none
·        The remedy: no need
·        The promise: overcomers to be made pillars in the temple of God; will have God’s Name, the Name of Christ and that of the City of God written upon them;

Laodicea The seventh church confronted by the Amen, the Witness faithful and true, the Head of the creation of God:
1.   Their good side
·        Nothing to be thrilled about here!
·        Christ’s administration rebuke and chastisement, evidences of His prevailing love for them and His readiness and willingness to forgive
2.   Their dark side
·        Sardis was stone cold, spiritually dead; this church was even more repulsive in the Eyes of the Lord, because it was neither totally dead to the things of
God, nor was it alive and active in the work of our Lord! It was simply not moving, back or forward!
·        Affluent, arrogant, and spiritually unproductive
·        A cause for nausea, a turning of the stomach in the Lord’s Eyes
3.   The danger and the warning; the remedy and the promise
·        The danger and the warning: utter rejection, loss of salvation
·        The remedy: repent; recognize spiritual poverty; buy into the riches and righteousness of God, through active, committed faith in Jesus the Christ
·        The promise: overcomers will be invited to sit with the Christ and the Father upon their thrones

Irreconcilable differences of opinion, varying levels of performance, commitment and attentiveness to the things of God, all these (and more, perhaps)
contribute in one way or the other to the why-fores and the where-fores of today’s denomination dilemma. This is true on the tangible, physical side of the
ledger. There is, on the other side of the same ledger, another potent force, which makes for the denominations of our day. Our Lord alluded to his presence,
hand and activity among several of the above-mentioned churches, though He was careful not to pin, or lead any one to believe that all the blame is his. That
force is God’s chief adversary, the devil.

themselves.
themselves.

It might well be argued that the devil’s first attack against the work of Christ in the New Testament was the “blind” killing of all the young babies two and under by
Herod the great, shortly after the birth of Christ—demonstrating that, whatever the extent of his power, he is not all-knowing, in which case he had no real idea
as to the shape or scope of God’s plan of salvation (or even that there was such a plan!). God brought His Christ—Mystery of all the Ages—into this evil world
under Satan’s radar. Hence, the devil’s Maker and Chief Adversary was here walking amongst us—vulnerable in His humanity, having been “morphed” to a
level beneath that of any angel (Heb. 2:7)—meandering about, bidding His time, right under the noses of the devil and his hordes! Satan was never the wiser.
He never knew until the decisive moment, the hour of revelation, when God gave the signal, having pulled back the veal, thereby exposing Him to the devil’s
view—opening, and rolling out that alluring, irresistible invitation to his fiendish, devilish scrutiny (Matt. 4:1-11).

Thus, Satan’s next encounter with his Maker was physical, up close and personal (mono au mono), His first day on the “job”. This was for him his grandest
moment. Here, he could foil foul up the hope of all mankind at or near the source, right out of the box. Might have been a “slam dunk” situation for him. It wasn’
t!

The devil’s quest to demonstrate supremacy over, and mastery of Him who alone is Master (to dominate Him into subjection, the way he had done to Adam),
was a dismal failure. Unwilling to concede defeat, he simply left the stage in a huff, as it were, to retire only in wait of a “more opportune time”. We have no
record to indicate that Satan ever approached the Christ again, “personally”. Nonetheless, the time of opportunity came frequently (if not fervently): most often
in the form of nay-saying Pharisees and scribes (Matt. 9:3, 34; 12:14, 24, 38; 16:1-7; 26:3-5; 27:1, 2, 63; 21:23, 42; Mark 11:18; 12:12); occasionally in the
throngs of followers often divided in their assessment and opinions of Him (Matt.12:23; 13:55-58; 21:30; 21:9-10, 15; 22:41- 46; Luke 4:22-32; Jn. 4:19, 25-26,
42; 6:14, 42, 69; 9:13-17; 7:5, 12, 14-15, 40-43; 45-52; 1:46; 11:27; even in the company of His closest companions—the apostles—who rarely, if at all
understood Him (while He was with them), Satan found occasion to strike (Matt. 16:21-23; 26:14,15, 49, 34, 56).

Through the propagation of false doctrine and the unholy alliances (as revealed by our Lord in the examples of the seven “Revelation” churches), the slaughter
of Christians by Rome (the under the Ceasars), the Roman Catholic Church and Islam it appeared for centuries that Satan had won the day, as there was no
church in any sense that God intended. Under the auspices of Martin Luther (1517, whatever his own shortcomings and failings), as God resurrected and
revitalized His church, shaking off and brushing aside the apostate shackles of Romanism, the devil was right there in a virtual step locked, in sync with the
renewed gospel work, sowing seeds of discord which evidently, quickly blossomed, yielding and leading to the dead weight of modern denominationalism.
Herein then is fulfilled the wisdom of Christ in which He predicts that “where there is a carcass, there is a vulture” (Matt. 24:28).