Another example of God’s dealings with false followers who are His people in name only is found in 1 Kings chapter 22 and Chronicles chapter 18. Here we find Ahab, the king of Israel (the 10 northern tribes) attempting to persuade Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (tribes of Judah and Benjamin) to join him in a […]

Concerning the fact that God sends strong delusion to those who claim to be His people but are not, let us study two examples from the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 13:1-4: “If there arises among you (Israelites/the church) a prophet … and (he) gives you a SIGN OR WONDER, AND THE SIGN OR WONDER COMES TO […]

In 2 Thessalonians Paul delivers to the church a warning from God that before the return of Jesus Christ she would experience a great apostasy. This mass “falling away” from the Lord would be orchestrated by the rider on the white horse introduced to us in Revelation 6:2 who went forth “conquering (people) and to […]

Delusion: Gr-“plane”–error, deception. To delude is to deliberatly  lead someone away from the right and toward the wrong. In the Biblical context, it means to degrade God’s Truth while exalting Satan’s error, to lead a God-seeker away from His righteousness and to Satan’s sin. Any church person who believes that Satan exists (not all do) […]

Jesus is “speaking” to the church in Philadelphia. He introduced Himself initially as “He that is Holy.” He then described Himself as “He that is true.” Being true is not an isolated condition. One cannot simply be true; one must be true to another entity. Jesus is true to His Word. So true is He […]

Philadelphia was a city midway between Sardis and Laodicea located on a Roman mail route that looped through the part of Asia Minor today known as Turkey. Having written to five cities, Jesus is now addressing the city of Philadelphia. In Revelation 3:7-13 we find John recording the Lord’s Words concerning the spiritual condition of […]

Sardis, located some 40 miles east of Smyrna, was the ancient capital of the region called Lydia. In Revelation 3:1-6 Jesus is dictating a letter to the Church of God in Sardis. He introduces Himself as the One Who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars–angels (aggelos-messengers/pastors-1:20). The number “seven” plays an […]

Thyatira was the fourth city in Asia Minor–now Western Turkey–in which the apostles had established churches. In this portion of the book (Rev. 2:18-29) Jesus introduces Himself as the Son of God Who has eyes like flames of fire and feet like fine brass–a very impressive sight. Of note is the fact that upon the […]

Pergamos was a city on the Caicus River located some 50 miles north of Smyrna. The Lord’s apostles had established churches in seven cities along a Roman mail route in what is now the nation of Turkey. Pergamos was the third in that row of cities. Beginning in Revelation 2:12 Jesus tells the Apostle John […]

Smyrna was a wealthy city located approximately 50 miles southwest of Ephesus on the Aegean Sea. Today it is a Turkish city called Ismir. In Revelation 2:8-11 we find Jesus dictating Smyrna’s portion of the book in which, among other things, He is informing each of the seven churches of Asia Minor of their spiritual […]