THE TRIUMPH OF THE COUNSELS OF GOD
The Ephesian letter may be summarized this way Chapter 1 is heaven Chapter 2 earth Chapter 3 the wisdom of God made known to heaven through the Church on earth Chapters 4,5, and the opening of Chapter 6 is living a heavenly life on earth the remainder of Chapter 6 is waging spiritual warfare in heaven. Heaven and earth, then, is the theme of Ephesians, but since heaven and earth in the language of Scripture means the universe, the theme of Ephesians is a universal one. Its keynote is the will of God, for God created and sustains the universe also Christ has title to all things by right of redemption. But a discordant note intrudes in Ephesians Satan, who is opposed to the will of God and challenges His throne. Because Satan, his evil spirits and fallen man oppose the will of God, the whole universe has become the arena of an epic struggle for dominance.
The purpose of this chapter is to trace and synopsize the spiritual warfare between God, Satan, and man from the Apostle's time to the close of Christianity on earth and to relate this conflict to Paul's Ephesian letter. The note on which the Ephesian letter closed was spiritual warfare, and the entire history of the Church since Paul left it has continued that theme.
The Rise and Fall of Paul's Work at Ephesus
At the beginning of Christianity man was in darkness. God turned him to the light. He was under the power of Satan. God broke Satan's chains with miracles which proved the gospel came from God. The souls who were saved were transferred from Satan's kingdom to God's and added to the Church as members of Christ's body. Then God instituted a responsible human administration of the Church under Paul. The doctrine of this Pauline administration is given to us in 3:3-10, its salient point being that Christ and Christ alone is the Head of the Church. The details of this administration will be found in those chapters of the Acts of the Apostles which record the life and works of Paul.
At first the Church obeyed its Head in heaven. That is, the members on earth read the Holy Scriptures, which gave them directions from their Head in heaven, and applied what they read to their lives. The result was that the Church was an unbroken unity and expressed practically God's mind for it as the body of Christ on earth. Now when Christ was bodily present on earth demons were cast out, diseases healed, the dead raised, and so on. Such evils, as manifestations of Satan's power, had to go when God was present. That is why these mighty works were continued in the Acts of the Apostles. The Church as Christ's body on earth was endued with the same power the Holy Spirit as when He was bodily present on earth. At Philippi, for example, Paul finds a girl possessed by a demon and casts it out. He preaches the Word of God to a woman, Lydia, and to a man, the jailer. Both are converted and Satan's power to imprison man in darkness, symbolized by the jail, is rocked to its foundation, as man calls for a light Acts 16. Then at Ephesus the whole Roman province of Asia, whose capital it was, hears the word of the Lord. Another seat of Satan the Temple of the goddess Artemis, is threatened. The demons show that while Jesus and Paul had authority over them, Satan's slaves in the world had none. Turning from darkness to light the people then burned their occult books. The Word of God grew mightily and prevailed.
Satan counter-attacked, stirring up a riot at Ephesus. This failed. He then turned to his "angel of light" character as a corrupter. He began by corrupting man in the Garden of Eden and then organized the world system to keep man away from God. God was overturning this in Paul's administration. Indeed this was the charge against the early Christians "these who have turned the world upside down" Acts 17:66And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; (Acts 17:6). What was wanted in Satan's eyes then, was to weaken the power of the Church displayed as Christ's body on earth. If he could not subdue that power with the riot perhaps there was a way to corrupt it. If Paul knew the danger of "not holding the Head" Col. 2:1919And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. (Colossians 2:19) the source of direction and organization in the body we may be sure Satan saw the weakness as well. But the spiritual energy of the Apostles held the Church together until the savage wolves Paul warned of ravaged it when they departed.
At the close of his life Paul wrote Timothy that everyone in the Roman province of Asia the capital of which was Ephesus had deserted him see 1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15). The love of present things had dimmed the prospect of the heavenly inheritance. Paul's closing words to them had been "grace with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption" 6:24. This incorruptible love was what the Lord Himself was looking for and found lacking when He walked among the seven golden lampstands and judged their responsible corporate walk "I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen" Rev. 2:4, 54Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:4‑5). Ephesus fell from the height of the Ephesian letter and the incorruptible love on which it ended. The corporate declension of the Church stemmed from Ephesus.*1 In referring to the height from which they had fallen the Lord may have been reminding them of the depths from which they had begun as well. Had they not worshipped the great goddess Artemis and the image which fell down from heaven Acts 19. From that depth Paul had elevated them to the apex of Ephesian truth. How far did they fall from that? Why all the way back to their old idolatry in another form for it was Ephesus which decreed the worship of another goddess the Virgin Mary. "The Council of Ephesus, in 431, in declaring that Mary was the Theotokos- she who gave birth to God ratified the fervor of the Copts who had worshipped her as such, suckling the new-born Jesus" to quote a recent writer.*2 This gives us the failure of the brightest spot in the early Church, whose loss of first love for Christ incorruptible love was the source of the general decline of the Church. We will now trace that general decline, mostly along moral lines, although brief historical references may intrude. Our aim is a panoramic view of the professing Church over the centuries of all that bore the Name of Christ in public profession, whether true or false. As J.G. Bellett once remarked "we want largeness of thought; and largeness of thought need not take us out of accuracy of thought."*3
How the Ephesian Doctrine That Christ Is the Head of the Church Was Attacked and Overthrown
In Paul's day there were no organic divisions in the Church. However the spirit of division existed in the form of internal dissensions as at Corinth. Man tends to divide to the left or right to use modern terminology that is, he departs from the center, where God is, in different ways see Isa. 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) or opposing opinions. In Israel the Sadducees were the left the Pharisees the right. In the early Church the right wing emerged first those who wanted to subject Christianity to the law and its ordinances. The Acts of the Apostles records this conflict and the epistle to the Galatians is the answer to it. Later on the left wing emerged false teachers who denied Jesus Christ come in the flesh evil doctrine which is refuted in the Apostle John's writings (their successors, with suitable variations in doctrine are the liberal theologians of today). The opposing schools of thought continued their conflict after the Apostles had left the Church, whose leadership thought the way to resolve the difficulty was to strengthen the oversight. This was a grave error, though well intentioned, and often advocated by godly men, for as already pointed out the inspired writings of the Apostles had settled the questions. Why not turn to them? The practical meaning of bowing to the authority of Christ as Head of the Church was to read and obey the canon of inspired Scripture, now closed and apostolically commended even before it was closed Acts 20:3232And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (Acts 20:32). We get an insight into the prevailing view that a strengthened oversight of the people was the answer to their divisive tendencies in the letters of Ignatius, third Bishop of Antioch in Syria. Ignatius loved the Church and meant well. He was faithful to death for Christ's sake. On his way to Rome and a martyr's crown he wrote letters of encouragement to several Christian assemblies. In one of these letters to the Church at Tralles in Asia he writes "nobody's conscience can be clean if he is acting without the authority of his bishop, clergy and deacons." If this were literally true there could have been no Reformation. Indeed it was the literal carrying out of this viewpoint which so corrupted the Church as to make the Reformation necessary. There are two reasons for this. First, while not an outright denial that Christ was Head of the Church, it was the first step in that direction. It was a step in the formation of a human organization which would replace a divinely instituted one. Power is in the Head, who is divine, not in the clergy who are human. Second, it was a delaying tactic, a transfer of the problem from the congregation to those who were thought to be more spiritual, and therefore better able to control the unruly elements. It did not work, for the same type of fragmentation arose in the clergy as in the laity. Moses smote the rock, David numbered the people, Peter denied the Lord, Paul visited the Temple. Apart from doctrinal considerations an inevitable power struggle arose among the Bishops. What now who should rule the unruly Bishops? Obviously there must be a Bishop of Bishops, and so the Papacy gradually evolved. Outward unity seemed finally to have been attained by this organizational expedient, but the price paid was the substitution of a human organization for a divine one. Organization is certainly not wrong in itself. God implanted the concept of organization in man. The formal way in which man carries out the divine edict to subdue the earth Gen. 1:2828And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28) is by organizing the abilities and activities of other men. Every government, large business enterprise etc. must have a head at the top from whom power flows down to others, and conversely various levels of responsibility must report back upwards to the head. Now God is not the author of confusion and when He established the Church He gave it an organization too, but with an incorruptible Head His Son. A human organization is just the opposite of this. A friend once remarked to me that men work their way up the human power structure by competing with other men at lower levels, where corruption is rife. He suggested that for this reason people should not be surprised at corruption in high political and business offices, for men cannot be less corrupt at the top than when they were striving for mastery in the corruption at the bottom. Knowing this, God organized the Church along the lines of the human body, all of whose members are directed by its Head. He gave the Church an incorruptible Head. The Head still speaks to us now through the Holy Scriptures and vitalizes the members if we are responsive to His direction.
The carnality of the early Church was manifested in giving up its invisible Head in heaven for a visible one on earth. Heaven was far away, and the inheritance too. Christ could be acknowledged as the Head of the Church in heaven, if necessary, as long as the Pope was the head of the Church on earth. But because Scripture denied such doctrine, its interpretation would be safer in the hands of the Church. The authority of Scripture diminished as tradition was added to it and as its circulation was restricted to approved circles.
The end result was the spiritual captivity of the people a captivity as real as Israel's when they were bodily carried away captive to Babylon. The similarity between the corruption of Israel and the corruption of the Church is remarkable also the judgments of God on both for giving Him up. The judgments on Israel were physical for they are an earthly people the judgments on the Church were spiritual for we are a heavenly people. For Israel's sin God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the Temple at Jerusalem and to carry away captive the people and the holy vessels. For the Church's sin the souls of men have been carried away captive to a spiritual Babylon Rev. 18:1313And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. (Revelation 18:13) rather than their bodies. And the holy vessels? Ah! they spoke of the form in which the Word of God was cast the parables, symbols, figures etc. by which Scripture teaches us truth. Who understood Ephesian truth after the fourth century? Who knew or cared about the four figures of the Church? Such things were carried away captive to a spiritual Babylon imprisoned in sculpture or stained glass windows. Who could answer the child's wondering gaze at some Bible story the artist had captured in a church building? It was in inanimate form when God meant it to be living. Who knew the underlying teaching not just the story itself and could explain it simply to a child? The Bible was chained to a pulpit and the people were too illiterate to read it anyway. Truly both the people and the holy vessels were captive.
God brought the Church's captivity to an end, like Israel's. They returned to their land, we returned to the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit stirred up the reformers against the corruption in the Church. They wielded the Sword of the Spirit Paul told us to take at the close of Ephesians. Men began once more to listen to the words of the Head in heaven rather than those of the head on earth. Ironically this led to what the early fathers most feared when they took the first steps which led to the papacy open division. The Church shattered into Roman Catholic and Protestant wings. Carnal warfare followed in Europe. Out of this the Western nations aligned themselves into Roman Catholic or Protestant powers. All of this was a denial of the Lord's words that His kingdom was not of this world which denies Christ's Headship in practice. Rome says if you cannot agree, the Pope is the court of last appeal for the difficulty. Thus one wing of the divided Church is wrong in doctrine and the other in practice. Such is man.
How the Restored Authority of the Bible Over the People Was Attacked Again and Overthrown
Although man is responsible for his conduct, it would be mistaken to attribute all the failure in the Church we have been recounting to man alone. At the close of the Ephesian letter Paul told us that our struggle was not with flesh and blood but with wicked spirits universal lords of darkness. Men are merely their puppets. The failure on man's side was in not wearing the full armor of God provided for this spiritual warfare. In the next phase of the struggle Satan's strategy became bolder. If he could not keep the Bible away from the people by chaining it to a church pulpit he would discredit it in the world so people would think it not worth reading.
For Satan seemed to have suffered a great reversal in the world. Just as God graciously gave Israel two revivals after their captivity Hezekiah's Passover (2 Chron. 30) and the reading of the Word of God under Josiah (2 Kings 22, 23) so with the Church. Hezekiah's Passover had its counterpart in the Reformation when the truth of justification by faith was re-established. The devoted study of the Scriptures followed, but not until the bloody religious wars which sought to overthrow the work of the Reformation ceased, and a measure of peace returned to the Western world. The 19th Century what men call the Victorian age was probably the greatest period of enlightenment in the history of man. It produced Biblical teaching and scholarship of the highest caliber, and in the world just legislation, liberty, freedom, and economic expansion. What tactic would Satan take to reverse this? He persecuted the early church and failed he succeeded with deceit and corruption. He had tried persecution again with the reformers and failed would deceit and corruption be the better weapon once more? It was.
England and Germany were the two Western nations which featured prominently in the Reformation. Satan chose them as his targets to destroy what the Reformation had accomplished—re-establishing the authority of the Word of God over the people. England spawned Darwin and his evolutionary teachings—Germany spawned the higher criticism of the Scriptures. Now while the intelligent Christian should not rule out change in nature*4 the tendency of evolutionary teachings is to shut God out of His creation. The higher criticism challenged the inspiration of the Scriptures and therefore the fall of man, the deity of Christ and the need of redemption through His blood.
How the Giving-up of the Bible Prepared the Way for the Sodom and Gomorrah World of the 20th Century
The twentieth century is the blackest period of time in the history of man. Its horrors cannot be fully described—two world wars, genocide in gas chambers, atom bombs, and moral corruption so great that Sodom and Gomorrah, on which fire from heaven fell, pale into insignificance. Of course, it is headed for the same fate. The origin of this nightmare come true, as already pointed out, was the rejection of the Biblical light of the nineteenth century and the acceptance of the fables of Darwin and the higher critics. Each guise of unbelief fed the other. The insidious poison of the higher criticism worked its way through once sound theological seminaries, many of whose graduates used their pulpits to diffuse their own doubts among their congregations. It is natural for man to doubt God's Word. So when its authority was questioned by those he thought should know, he willingly embraced Darwin's speculations. "If therefore the light that is he thought should know, he willingly embraced Darwin's speculations. "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness" Matt. 6:2323But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23).
The liberal Protestant churches were now weighed in the balances and found wanting. As their congregations deserted them in droves their membership became more theoretical than real.*5 England, with empty and abandoned church buildings dotting the landscape, provides visual evidence of the predicted "falling away" 2 Thess. 2:33Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Having no real gospel now, the liberal churchmen began to preach "the social gospel" an attempt to improve the world by influencing its affairs something which Scripture views as spiritual fornication Rev. 17:22With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Revelation 17:2). Paul said "but though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" Gal. 1:88But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8). Little wonder that two severe judgments now fell on England and Germany World Wars 1 and 2. These were the lands of the Reformation and the lands which had rejected the Reformation for the teachings of evolution and the higher criticism. Darwin's teachings had prepared the way for the lifestyle of modern Western man living like a beast without God in his life. The partial evidence of this surfaced in the brutality of the two world wars. The total war concept featured World War 2 no mercy shown to civilian populations from the air or on the ground. This culminated in the release of atom bombs on Japan. This was a portent of the hideous nature of future conflicts if there were no repentance. But the modern world hardened its heart to the judgments as Pharaoh did. Enjoying a temporary respite from war it turned to unparalleled moral corruption becoming as beast like in peace as it had been in war. Paul's letter to the Ephesians had laid down the order of earthly relationships. But this has been scorned. Because Paul's instructions on marriage and the family have been ignored, families have been broken in divorce, children abandoned or allowed to grow up without proper training. Because Paul's instructions to employers and employees have been scorned, vital services are cut off by strikes or disinclination to work. Because Paul's doctrine that Christ is the Head of the Church is spurned, man takes over. Man has his own thoughts. He can borrow some of Paul's, of course those which suit him. For example the Church's rule over the world that is an excellent thought also its unity. Why shouldn't man bring these things about not just talk about them? Can we not now discern the shape of things to come as we listen to liberal churchmen and men of the world talk about the one-world Church and the one-world government?
Preparations for the Marriage of the Lamb in Heaven—the Judgment Seat of Christ
Up to this point we have been considering the professing church as a whole that is, the Roman Catholic Church and all Protestant denominations, sects, groups (but excluding cults such as Jehovah's witnesses, Christian Science, etc.) In this view of the Church those who are born again believers and those who are not but still profess Christianity are all grouped together and viewed the same way as included in the professing church in the world. This is the way the Lord judges the Church on earth otherwise how could you explain Rev. 2:13, 2:23 and 3:16? But when the second coming of Christ takes place only genuine believers will be raptured to heaven. The lifeless professors will be stranded on the earth left in a dead carcass the traditional organizational groupings of what was once the professing church. But with true believers gone and only unbelievers in it, it will no longer be a professing church but an apostate church. Then with the removal of fundamentalist objections there will in all probability be a rapid consummation of a worldly ecumenical marriage. This will embrace all viewpoints. The resulting apostate church will represent the complete triumph of liberal theology man's views of what the church should be. This views of what the church should be. This is the harlot of Rev. 17 whose judgment is described in Rev. 18. Two great events follow in rapid succession the marriage of the Lamb and the crushing of all opposition to Christ's kingdom on earth. "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever Rev. 11:1515And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15).*6
Judgment must begin at the house of God before the world can be judged see 1 Peter 4:1717For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17). It begins when the second coming of Christ automatically divides the professing church into true and false professors wise and foolish virgins. Paul tells us about one of the first things we may expect when we get to heaven "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God...every one of us shall give account of himself to God" Rom. 14:10, 1210But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (Romans 14:10)
12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12). Christ will sit on this judgment seat for the Father has committed all judgment to the Son John 5:2222For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (John 5:22). Two things are necessary for every believer the blood of Christ to wash his sins away and the judgment seat of Christ to deal with his responsible life in the world and in the Church. Without this how could we rule the world when we hadn't ruled ourselves? Many in heaven will have contributed to the development of the harlot below. But since there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8:1 The character which the judgment seat takes is a review of our responsible life. It is where rewards are given for faithfulness and rebukes for unfaithfulness "if any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames" 1 Cor. 3:12-1512Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12‑15). This is what is meant by "the marriage of the Lamb is come AND HIS WIFE HAS MADE HERSELF READY, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of saints" (note the plural) Rev. 19:7,87Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:7‑8). This is what has survived the judgment seat and the spotless beauty of the Bride now shines out.
The judgment seat of Christ is presented in two ways in Revelation. Chronologically it precedes the opening judgments on the world, for in Rev. 4:1010The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, (Revelation 4:10) we cast our crowns before the throne and we know these are varied awards for faithfulness presented at the judgment seat. Morally it is wedged between the culminating judgment on the world Rev. 19:11-2111And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:11‑21) and the judgment on the apostate church the harlot which seduced it. As already pointed out many who are in heaven will have been responsible for the development of the apostate church on earth. We tend to think of judgment in terms of carnal things, forgetting that to defile the Temple of God the Church with heresies, evil doctrines, etc. is to invite destruction 1 Cor. 3:1717If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Corinthians 3:17). Christ cannot in faithfulness judge the apostate church on earth until He has first judged in heaven those whose conduct in the Church produced it. It is a frightening thought too that all the sorrows coming on the world now, and in the prophesied judgments, can be traced to the apostasy of the Church, which in turn originated with Ephesus giving up its first love.
The Harlot Church on Earth Contrasted With the Lamb's Bride in Heaven
The apostate church has many names "the woman" "the whore" "the great whore" "Babylon the Great" "that great city Babylon" "that mighty city" "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." The bride of Christ is called "the Holy City Jerusalem." These appositive names tell us much about the respective churches. Both are depicted as women (a female denotes a moral state in Scripture) and both also as cities Babylon and Jerusalem (a city is a figure of rule, being an administrative center). Babylon was the city which carried Jerusalem into captivity and so it was with the false church. The titles of the apostate church indicate moral corruption on the earth of the true church holiness things. As "the woman" she was dressed to call attention to herself for she was a harlot. She sought rule and honor in the world which crucified Christ. The purple and scarlet, the gold, precious stones and pearls, are figures of things she misappropriated. Babylon, for example, wore pearls, but the Holy City knows only one pearl the pearl of great price Matt. 13:4646Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:46). Christ had descended to the ocean depths like Jonah in type to secure the Church, the pearl of great price, by His death. We cannot walk in and out of the gates of the Holy City without being reminded of that fact. We find other pieces of Babylon's jewelry in the Holy City but in their proper settings. The Holy City has precious stones like Babylon, not to draw attention to herself but to Christ and His work for us. For the precious stones in the Holy City are set in the foundation of the city walls that is, they speak of the death and resurrection of Christ, our foundation. Babylon not only wore gold on her person to attract men but had a cup of gold to seduce them once they were attracted. This cup of gold was filled with the stupefying wine of idolatry and spiritual fornication. Holding it in her hand suggests the character of her works. Is this seducing wine not a blend of idolatry, liberal theology, and the social gospel? Rulers and ruled alike have got drunk on it. But in the Holy City gold fills its proper role. In Scripture gold symbolizes divine righteousness (as can be seen in its use in the Tabernacle). Since the whole of the Holy City is pure gold, we should not be surprised that its street is pure gold also, like transparent glass. The street is where men walk and that is the proper use of gold, a walk according to divine righteousness, and absolutely transparent not in a hand holding a golden cup full of seducing wine corrupt works. The Holy City has only one street for all in it will walk the same way. There will be no hidden motives all will be transparent. Light, unity, and moral beauty characterize the Holy City it has the glory of God and lightens the earth. Babylon corrupted the earth by drawing mens' attention to herself, seducing and stupefying them with evil works. The adornment of the Holy City is to draw mens' attention to God and to produce a holy walk as a result of that. The Holy City Jerusalem is the Church itself as the bride of Christ depicted as the seat of rule in the future kingdom over heaven and earth- 1:10, 11.
One final word as to the apostate church. Babylon has "mystery" (secret) on her forehead that is, where the world can see it. Her claim to being the bride of Christ is therefore a public one, but the mystery (secret) of the true church was hidden in God. This is enough to expose her claim as false. Again, how can Christ be joined to an harlot 1 Cor. 6:1515Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. (1 Corinthians 6:15). The bride of Christ is holy. The false claimant to Christ's affections had added to the Word of God and taken away from it. So God shall add to all its false teachers the plagues in the Book of Revelation. Not being raptured they shall taste them to the full. God shall also take away their part out of the book of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in His book see Rev. 22:18-1918For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18‑19). The servant who knew God's will but didn't do it shall be beaten with many lashes see Luke 12-47. Blessed is the servant who enters the Holy City and feeds upon the tree of life.
The Divine Administration of Heaven and Earth Ushered in After the Destruction of Satan's Power
Satan seems to be victorious today but the will of God will prevail. How is this to be? Simply by destroying Satan's power and purifying the world by judgment, following which the divine administration of 1:10, 11 will be introduced. The God of heaven shall set up this kingdom which shall never be destroyed or left to successors see Dan. 2:4444And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44).
The Ephesian letter closed with a warning that our conflict is not with flesh and blood but with Satan and his evil spirits. They still inhabit the heavenly places and influence men and events on earth from there. But the will of God is that we should not only inhabit these heavenly places but rule earth from them. Satan's first loss of power comes from his ejection from heaven "and there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, and his angels were cast out with him" Rev. 12:7-97And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:7‑9). Heaven rejoices because Satan is thrown out but earth will taste Satan's wrath "rejoice you heavens and you who inhabit them. But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short" Rev. 12:1212Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Revelation 12:12). So he comes down to the world, whose god and prince he still is.*7 But God touches his power there too. As the god of this world he sees his religious masterpiece, the apostate church, destroyed. As the prince of this world his political power ends in total defeat at the hands of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19. Then he himself is seized and bound in the abyss for one thousand years the duration of Christ's kingdom Rev. 20:1-31And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:1‑3). Thus do we receive the inheritance God promised us in 1:10, 11.
What a wondrous period this will be. Man lost the tree of life in Eden he could not eat it because he sinned. Then comes the promise to the overcomer in Ephesus "to him who overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" Rev. 2:77He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7). This promise is fulfilled in the Holy City Rev. 22:1, 21And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1‑2)
“In eternal counsels founded
Perfect now in fruit divine
When the last blest trump has sounded
Fruit of God forever mine!”
The universe will be filled with the light of Christ's glory. God will have found what He sought the reproduction of Himself in man in Christ and the Church. In this divine administration the fruit of God's eternal counsels will be UNIVERSAL RULE AND UNIVERSAL WORSHIP OF A GOD REVEALED TO US AS FATHER.