“To Whom Are the Seven Church Messages Written?”, Part 1 (The following was taken from, “The New Albany Notes on Revelation”) This question may appear a strange one. The messages to the Churches SHOULD BE to the Church! But the question often arises among brethren as to whether these messages are to the church nominal or to the true Church, or both. THE PROBLEM It should be noted that this would probably not be a question if we only had…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 14 continued “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write…” An extensive newspaper work by the Pastor also provided a worldwide witness. From a small beginning the work expanded until approximately four thousand newspapers and magazines, at one time or another, published his sermons—about two thousand doing so simultaneously (What minister today could say the same?). By this means he preached to an estimated fifteen million to twenty million people weekly. These sermons,…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 14 continued “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write…” Russell was not the founder of a new religion, he merely revived the great truths taught by Jesus and the apostles, and turned the light of the twentieth century upon these. In so doing, he did more than any other man of modern times to establish the faith of the people in the Scriptures. By the citation of scriptural authority, he taught and…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 14 continued “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write…” As one of the pioneers in the development of the successful idea of chain stores, Russell soon started a store of his own and rapidly increased his ownership to a chain of stores. His prospects for wealth were indeed great. At age twenty-one he was already worth more than $250,000 (Approximately $6,197,150 today.) One hundred dollars in 1877 is worth $2,478.86 today. In…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 14 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write…” The following was taken from Brother Shallieu’s work, “The Keys of Revelation”. This seventh and last period of the earthly pilgrimage of the nominal Church is styled “Laodicea.” There is a dual significance to this term, namely, (a) “a judged people” and (b) “justice for the people.” The Laodicean epoch commenced with the year 1878, the beginning of the Gospel Age harvest. As the…
Choosing the right messenger, continued Our next question would naturally be, Who then were these seven men especially chosen by the Lord to deliver his message to each stage of the church throughout its history? Who do the professing church say they were? From my own searches I have noted, that is with a few minor exceptions, that they are rather reluctant to say who they believe they were and tend to beat around the bush a lot, never making…
Choosing the right messenger Amongst orthodoxy (the professing church) there are various opinions as to who exactly the seven messengers may be who are mentioned in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 with one group suggesting that they are literal angelic beings while the other insist that they are human messengers. Let us consider the sensibleness of the two to see which makes more sense. The first idea, that the messengers were actual angelic beings suggest “that each church had a…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 12-13 continued “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him my new name. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 12-13 continued “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him my new name. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…
Revelation Chapter 3 VERSE 11 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” “The promise of coming quickly was of special meaning to those nearer the end of the Philadelphia period. It was the stimulus for the Miller and Wolff movements —the Adventists. Since the “Time of the End” was to occur in Philadelphia, the book of Daniel was to begin to be understood. “Although I heard, I did not understand….