Conclusion on the Seven Churches

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Luke 18:17   “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

 

God doesn’t ask us to convert other people to our way of thinking. God doesn’t want us shoving our religious beliefs down the throats of other people. Rather, God only asks that we be able to share and explain to others the joy and the reasons for the hope that is within our hearts.

 

1 Peter 3:15   “….Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

 

1 Peter 3:16   Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against the good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

 

When Jesus was on Earth, the leaders of Israel could not understand His teachings because of their arrogance and self-righteousness. They knew from the start they were right and Jesus was wrong. This is how self-righteousness works.

 

If Jesus were on Earth today, most religious leaders would not give Him five minutes of serious consideration because of self-righteousness. Here’s a little test:

What would be the likelihood of a devout Jehovah’s Witness reading a book produced by a Catholic priest? Zero, because Jehovah’s Witnesses are not permitted to read religious materials produced by other religious bodies – but they are more than eager to ask everyone else to read their materials! The Jehovah’s Witnesses are so firmly convinced that they have and know God’s truth; they are persuaded there is no point in reading other literature.

 

I would like to use this behavior of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to demonstrate a second point. Even if your own church does not prohibit you from reading doctrinal materials produced by other churches, you probably don’t.

 

Why? Is it self-righteousness or laziness?

 

When a particular view on a doctrine makes sense, most people stop their investigation and this is a problem because…. Truth never stops unfolding.   So, what makes sense today when more light on a particular subject is exposed? A self-righteous person thinks that he has surrounded the truth on a particular matter, and then he shuts his mind.

 

This is what self-right-ness does. “I’m right, I know the truth, and I don’t want to hear anything different.” I must confess that if Jesus were on Earth today, masquerading as a carpenter – I would probably ignore his teachings until I saw a miracle. Be honest, wouldn’t you?

 

Jesus identified Himself to the church at Philadelphia with this description: “These are the words of Him who is holy and true” because He is the Word…He was speaking as God and He was speaking Truth. And his comments to the Jewish converts in Philadelphia and Smyrna were brutal.

 

Jewish converts in the church at Philadelphia claimed to be superior to their brothers because they were ancestors of Abraham…. But, Jesus condemned them twice by saying (a) that they were of the synagogue of Satan and (b) they were liars. Jesus used some very strong words….

 

What were the Jewish converts lying about? They said they were Jews and they were not. “I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.”

 

This message should cause every Christian to examine his spiritual condition. Listen carefully: the word “Jew” means something different to God than it does to man. To God, the term refers to those who, like Abraham, choose to serve Him with a pure heart.

 

Jesus is King of the Jews because He chose to do the will of the Father with a pure heart. For this reason, the Father has exalted His Son as the king of those having “pure hearts.” To mankind, the term “Jew” often identifies a race of people. But, there is a world of difference between God’s use of the word “Jew” and man’s use of the word “Jew.”

The descendants of Abraham are first called “Jews” in the book of Esther (5^th century B.C.). For almost a thousand years before the Babylonian captivity, the descendants of Abraham were called “Hebrews” which mean gypsies. (Genesis 14:13) During the Babylonian captivity, the Babylonians created a denigrating word for the self-righteous captives from Judea.

 

The Hebrews let the Babylonians know in no uncertain terms that THEY were God’s chosen people, and this claim amused the Babylonians because these gypsies were nothing but exiles and slaves. So, instead of calling them gypsies, the Babylonians used the slang “Ju” to represent the “self-asserting chosen race’ from Judea.  

 

History says this is how the term “Jews” came to be. You might be surprised to know that this derision and scorn comes as a fulfillment to prophecy:

 

Jeremiah 29:18   “I will pursue them (Israel) with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them.

 

Jeremiah 29:19   For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.”

 

Ezekiel 36:20   “And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, “these are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’  

 

 

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