On similar lines to what we have seen in the parables of the kingdom of heaven, we trace spiritual degeneration setting in as witnessed in the addresses to the seven assemblies in Asia (Rev. 2 and 3). There were seven actual assemblies in Asia at the time the Apostle John wrote, their condition answering to the description given of them. But whilst this is so, they also furnish a prophetic outline of Church history from the time the Apostle wrote up to the time of the second coming of our Lord to take His people from the earth to the glory, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" (1 Cor. 15: 52).
This is clearly indicated in the divinely inspired threefold division of the book:- "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:1919Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; (Revelation 1:19)).
"The things which thou hast seen" are described in Rev. 1.
"The things which are" are found in Rev. 2 and 3, covering the addresses to the seven assemblies in Asia.
These seven addresses begin with that to the Church, which is at Ephesus. There we get the secret of all spiritual declension. "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Rev. 2:44Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. (Revelation 2:4)). The all-absorbing love for their Lord, which marked the early Church, may be illustrated by a newly-married couple. How deep and tender is their love one to the other. But if this "first love" wanes, how tragic the situation. Many a marriage has been wrecked for the lack of "first love." We see how gravely the Spirit of God viewed the situation. We read, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev. 2:55Remember 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 2:5)), as if the Church had fallen from some giddy height, and was lying prostrate and bruised at the foot of some mighty precipice.
The second address is to the Church at Smyrna, covering a period of terrible persecutions on the part of one after another of the Roman emperors. If Satan tried to overthrow the Christian faith by persecution, he soon found out his mistake. The vitality of true Christianity has ever stood such a test. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." The Lord used the fiery trial of His saints for their purification and strengthening. So persecution was dropped, and the enemy tried patronage in its place, a subtle and dangerous move for the Church of God.
This is seen in the address to the Church at Pergamos. Even then there was some persecution, as seen in the martyrdom of Antipas, though not on the persistent and wholesale scale as seen in Smyrna. But we see whit a downward step was taken when we read that the doctrine of Salaam, who taught Israel to sin in eating things sacrificed to idols, and committing fornication, was taking root in their midst; and also the harboring of the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, hated by the Lord.
Next in order comes the address to the Church at Thyatira. The Roman Catholic Church alone fits into the picture-Rome with its superstitions, ritualistic practices, her hierarchy, her persecution of any who dared to profess the name of Christ in a real way, and to possess a copy of the Holy Scriptures. It is here where the Church reaches the depths of spiritual corruption, evil and blasphemy.
Indeed so flagrant had this become that the Lord broke up all claim to corporate testimony, that is the testimony of the Church as a whole. It is true that Thyatira goes on to the end of the history of the Church of God upon the earth, but a new thing here happens. Sardis steps into her place alongside Thyatira. Hitherto, viewing the Church prophetically as outlining Church history, we find one Church passing away to give place to another, but just here the order changes, and we find the four last phases of the Church going on together, as each Church comes into view.
So we come to that phase of the Church represented by Sardis, setting forth Protestantism, a wonderful recovery so far, but alas! soon to be described as having a name to live, but dead. This is exactly the. description of the Lutheran Church in Germany given to the writer just before the beginning of the first Great World War.
The reader will remember the remark that was made, that alongside failure and declension we find God ever and anon coming in with restoring grace. We see this in Sardis, but alas! further declension into formality, and lifelessness, quickly set in.
Still God graciously works, and we have next the address to the Church in Philadelphia. The Word of the Lord is kept, His name not denied, the Word of His patience, that is the hope of the Lord's second coming, cherished. This does not seem to describe any clearly defined religious system such as Roman Catholicism or Protestantism, but a moral movement in the Church's last days on earth. Connected with various religious bodies at the present time we find earnest consecrated men and women, spiritually beyond the systems they are connected with, who could be described in the terms of the address to the Church at Philadelphia. When our Lord shouts the summoning call at His second coming, those answering to this description, as well as all true believers, wherever they may be found, will be caught up.
Lastly we come to the address to the Church which is at Laodicea. If, in the address to the Church at Philadelphia, we get the greatest recovery to a condition similar to the bright and early days of the Church's history, in Laodicea we get the lowest phase of the Church's history on earth. If Thyatira is ecclesiastically the lowest phase that we have noticed; Laodicea is the lowest morally, for we believe that this sets forth a movement of steep decline, as Philadelphia sets forth a gracious movement of recovery in the last days.
We find Laodicea marked by the most terrible complacency. Hear their boasting, their loud assumption. They claim to be " rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing " (Rev. 3:1717Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17)). That is their opinion of themselves, but how utterly removed from the Lord's opinion of them, the Lord, walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, with eyes like a flame of fire. How withering and devastating the truth: "Thou knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:1717Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17)).
May this not set forth those, who abound in these last times, who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof-the Modernists, the Higher Critics, the Rationalists, the unconverted formalists, the adherents of these wild cults that deny the Godhead glory of our Lord, and refuse the true meaning of His atoning death on the cross, who have no part nor lot in the matter, such as Christian Scientists, Millennial Dawnists, Christadelphians, and a long list of crank religions. Our Lord tells such their doom. They are to be spued out of His mouth, as being lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, nauseous. Surely this will take place at the second coming of our Lord, when all true believers will be caught up, and those answering to the Church at Laodicea, vain deceivers, empty professors, will be left behind for judgment. This will be the doom of corrupt Christendom.