the sevenfold Spirit of the ecclesia

[marie glen]

Whenever i study the book of Revelation, i've always (felt led to) for the most part, start with chapter 6 where the earthly part of the vision starts. But finally I've been doing a more indepth study of the heavenly part of chapters 1 through 5, and am now on the 7 letters to the churches, and it seems to me like in them is the description of the common states of churches.. I read a very good article (short series) about the Jezebel spirit being unfaithful by being interested in "status".. church and spiritual status, mostly church, and how it gets to be abusive/dominating of members..

And I read "depths of satan" had to do with members flirting with pagan rites.. the whole ascending levels of initiation or understanding, etc. :faint: But I'm straying..

Ephesus' love had cooled.. Smyrna was in poverty and persecuted, Pergamum had some 'for profit'? and license? .. Thyatira some were wrapped up in self status and control to keep or attain it, and other sin, even depths of Satan.. (like a secret type society? which enhances standing and status?) ...Sardis was like a social club? Philadephia was the church of love (w/ 2 promises of note) and Laodicia was worldly wealthy & spirtually poor?

The imagery of 7 lampstands/churches, seven stars/messengers/spirits, and the sevenfold Spirit of God, seems to imply a sevenfold Spirit of the body?

Any thoughts?

Next I want to zero in on the Lord's intro words and closing words of each letter.

[rosered]

Thank you sista Marie  ,

  Been studying   the SAME THINGS!!!     :dsunny: :HeartThrob:

This is just the gist of it   that I have  been learning of  , ps  if it were possible   , Jesus tells us  and we remember the warnings  from the Holy Spirit  quickening the Word to us  ,  even the very elect would be deceived , but it is NOT possible ,  they are corrected  , remember John when he went to bow down to the angel   with the message of truth and the angel warned him to not  worship him [ son of man & the Son of God ]   but the TRUE  and Living God   :dsunny: :HeartThrob:

For me , the depths of satan  are still holding many under the   great lie  !!   to make the cross of Jesus to no effect to them , Jesus defeated  satan's power over death   as a finished work   the Father sent Him to do  openly in the BOOK   our record  , what was hidden as a mystery for the ages/worlds    this is the  hour of trial that does come upon the whole world   to test our faith and Jesus keeps those from it     whom BELIEVE HIM!!  THE TRUTH  by passing from judgement and  raised  to  Life [resurrection ]  from the dead  , the dead in Christ rise first !!  yay!!


Jesus said he had meat that many did know of   and it was to do the will of God perfectly , any kind of desire   or strong meat  is for the aged  and can survive and sustain , especially though fasting   and prayer [spiritually speaking it is to  not let the eating the  food of idols  in   the worldly  things earthly sensual and devilish   evils    destroy us , kings delicacies  as liars  ]  become the stumbling block  and offense  to  keep you from the path of Truth that leads to LIFE IN CHRIST  , 

We know   that long periods of testing  comes   and to Go to the Father in prayer only and quietly  Like Jesus showed us the way to do this   ,  go  boldly before the throne of grace   and is  to  destroy the works of the devil [worldly lust and desires  and bondage to sin /error  ]  ,  and declare the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST  IN VICTORY  ,  compared to the milk of the Word    and is for babes in Christ   , seems      the sons of sceva "chief priest"  in Acts 19  , whom were beaten  and run off naked and ashamed  ,

I do believe  that one of the rewards of  Jesus is to write our names in the lambs book of Life  and anyone whom calls on the name of the LORD   is saved   and told   to  ask and it shall be given by the power of the Holy Spirit  moving   the mountain [ Sinai ]  ,  or the other hand  , many whom call on the name of the Lord  , is told  depart  from me you workers of iniquity I never knew you ,  because it always comes down to the motive of the heart   and  those seeking to make a name for themselves  .

   the tower of Babel [ Gen 11 ]   She is unchaste  and  haughty and  the queen of heaven [religious pride  blasphemous  name on her forehead] [Marked ]  and deceiving the whole world , till the beast she rides  destroys her   flesh and burns her with fire   , because GOD puts it in the beast heart  to do so .

  This will cause the foolish to bow down and worship the  beast [ satan's  prideful LIE  ]   :sigh:   man of sin and lawlessness  sits in Gods temple  , as a god ,  speaking blasphemous   things against the True and LIVING GOD  [marked already]    but those whom know NOT to do so have the wisdom of the HOLY SPIRIT  to keep them from such a blunder   in the hour of trial that comes upon the whole world  as deceived  and captive  to the deadly lie .

Because we know  the  LORD IS MAKING everything new    and a new heavens and earth  where righteousness  dwells  and the FATHER and the Lamb sit in the THRONE OF GRACE    on our behalf   that we are to boldly go  before in the hour of need/trial   of our faith  tested in the Hope of Glory to GOD and not steal this crown of Life  , sons of God    though Jesus Christ   works  of so great a LOVE  for the world  HE literally gives of  Himself   the riches of the kingdom  to us   His own possessions  and evil will never enter  HIS KINGDOM  ever again .   

  I am sorry these are so long ...........      :2c:  &  :2c:

[rosered]

Next I want to zero in on the Lord's intro words and closing words of each letter.

I hope to be more clear in sharing  sista Marie ,,,,   Paul was given the mysteries [revealing of Christ in us the hope of glory ]

  1To the Church in Ephesus     , Paul's  letters to the  Ephesians   opens the gates   to Gods kingdom and  the gates of hell shall not prevail   against   it .. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

:dsunny:
2 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

LOVE GOD FIRST   with our whole heart   is the  order  [first love ]  to fill our supply   to love others as we ought 

the mark of the beast  , beastly men natures  holding on to the lie   :eek:  Paul spoke up   as a solider  and prisoner[bondservant ]   captive to the  Lord Jesus Christ   and no longer the beast   mentality     in Eph 6   the full amour  of God


4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

PRIDE comes before the fall 

"teaching of the Nicolaitans" refers to dominating the people,[rulers as kings of the earth]  compared to the "teaching of Balaam" which refers to seducing the people. John discusses domination within the church in 3 John 9-11.

who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Always and always it is about  Keeping our eyes fixed on  JESUS CHRIST  and putting GOD FIRST    , to God be the glory

Jesus Christ  is the great gulf fixed   , the way to the Father is  always though Him   way of escape , He is the son of Man and the Son of God   the narrow path   that leads to Life   and the  changing is done   though HIM  [all things are given to His power /hand    for us  to meet HIM  in the air /Above the body of death   the temporary and  earthly  things .

[sheila]

 :2c:I received portions from Pergamum and Smyrna.

Pergamum's counsel from the Lordis speakingof a people dwelling in the midst of the advesarys territory.and remain true to ..His name..

even at the risk of physical death [or being an outcast of such territory/congregation etc]Ialso saw inthis people who had faith in Jesus

and salvation..who were still wrestling with the sin/adversary in their flesh.As Paul spoke..the good I desire to do,Ido not do, that which I

desire not,I do]thus sin in my flesh..no longer I.thusour faith spirit residing where satanplaced athrone..as the sinin our flesh.


   And again,TheLord speaks of Balaam[paid hirelings that curse men for mammon] and taught seduction..of which that article Marie

shared give such a fine revelation on.Likewise the Nicolaitans again dealt with.  Hidden manna[food foryour assured eternal spirituallife

you will receive..not being subjector fearful of their'cursings'..knowing it is not of God.


Smyrna...Jesus knows what you suffered..you have not sold truth for mammon nor enriched yourself as many

have with their so called 'ministries" Their 'slander'Beware when all men speak well of you!We can't be man pleasing..but desire utmost

toPLEASE GOD[Jesus always did what pleased the Father and partook of the wrath of the religious leaders.]


The overcome religious institution,Just as in Jesus day....hates their deeds exposed.BASICALLY...WE MUST OVERCOME THE OVERCOME

CHURCH! Their false doctrines and merchdising of people's relationship with God and Jesus.Persecutions,slander,trying

to entrap you in a word to condemn you,speaking of somethings that are 'hard' sayings that may be twisted..or stumble those who

'don't get"what you're saying..or offends them..even to the point of calling Christ in you BeelzebubMt 12;24]or whetherthey call

you Sabbath breakers,or any other thing as they also called Jesus,yourLord.Some may say'he's a good man,other's no,he misleads the

people." All of these same persecutions we shall also suffer...as He did..by the overcome religious establishment and it's leaders.

   BECAUSE JUDGEMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD. :2c:

[jugghead]

I am not as well versed as you sisters are when it comes to some understandings, but I have always felt there is a connection between the seven days of Genesis and seven letters to the churches in Revelation.

When we look at the first letter to Ephesus, and when we read Rev 2:2  "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:"

that this is a picture of day one of Genesis, that they have been separated from darkness, separated from evil

and when we read,  Rev 2:4  "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." that this first love is "our own forgiveness of sins" but when we know we have been forgiven, it is a hard thing to forgive those who we know led us astray and lied to us (but they knew not what they did)

which when we read again in day one, that when the light is separated from the darkness, the darkness again is there, that this darkness we see again (because of the separation) is "unforgiveness" reappearing.

that this is the first step (day/light) of understanding, that we can love the fact that we have been forgiven of our sins, but what is against the first church is the fact that they do not forgive others in the same way they were forgiven, that it was freely given.

Then with the second letter to Smyrna, when we read Rev 2:9  "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. "

that this relates to "above" and "below" in day two that though we may have tribulation and poverty in this physical place (below), thou art rich because we are from "above". That the synagogue of Satan is from "below" and the synagogue of God is from "above"

which can relate to "the synagogue of Satan" being "the synagogue of the accuser", they accuse others of not being saved by the blood of Christ at His death on the cross, despite the fact that they believe they are.

and then when we read the third one to Pergamum, that He "knows where Satan's seat is" (the accusers seat) that he judges from his seat of a dry place (let the dry appear), that dry place being "a heart with no spirit of forgiveness for others" a dry rock upon which rain may fall but it cannot be soaked up because it has not yet been pulverized into dust to make it pliable.

and also that this "dry" place is a place where if the letter of the law is carried out to the fullest, it is completely dry of mercy; completely dry of "the forgiveness of sins for others" if we place ourselves in that seat of judgment.

These are just some simple things that I see in the relationship between the beginning (Genesis) and the end (Revelation) but by no means is it the only way they can be understood, just may be a starting point for some, for God's understanding is infinite.

But this is just my opinion.

Blessings

[sheila]

TY JH.....an excellent spiritual understanding.1 Cor14;26-29. :girlheart:

[sheila]

 :2c: actually Jug...I see your post as'the cherry on top"or the CAPSTONE. :girlheart:

[marie glen]

Thank you sisters! I was hoping you'd post your insights! As you'd mentioned studying on some of these same verses. :thumbsup:

And thank you brother! I hadn't thought of that! Another "7"! God's 'play' on numbers is fascinating! (Also marks of genius of course! :cloud9: )
   

[jugghead]

TY JH.....an excellent spiritual understanding.1 Cor14;26-29. :girlheart:

Thank you very much Sheila, your words of affirmation are the wine saved for last