The Christian Faith
Podcast
Episode #86: The Seven Churches (2): Ephesus & Smyrna, the Early Church
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This edition of our podcast
is part of our 12-part series,
“The Letters to the
Seven Churches”
In Revelation 2-3 the Lord first deals with the seven churches, which show us prophetically the history of the entire church age, before going on in the remaining chapters of Revelation to judge the world and Satan. This is in keeping with the principle the Apostle Peter gives us, that “judgment begins with the house of God” (1 Pet. 4:17).
On the one hand, before God the churches are golden lampstands, shining out God’s testimony, and we really need to appreciate them in this way. But even so, on the other hand, they exist practically on the earth according to their actual condition, and the Lord judges them on that basis in chapters 2-3 of the book of Revelation.
In this episode of the podcast, we consider the first two of these churches, Ephesus & Smyrna. These represent, respectively, the church at the end of the first century and the suffering church of the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
Length: 46 minutes
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Books
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The Orthodoxy of the Church
E.H. Broadbent
The Pilgrim Church
Previous Episodes
Episode #63: “Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord?” (1)
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCED
IN THIS EPISODE
1 Corinthians 1:9: The fellowship of God’s Son.
Revelation 2-3: The Lord’s word to the seven churches.
Revelation 1:10-12: The vision of the golden lampstands.
Exodus 25:31-40: The lampstand in the tabernacle.
Zechariah 4:1-7: The lampstand in Zechariah.
1 Timothy 6:16: God dwells in unapproachable light.
Revelation 21:18, 23: The New Jerusalem, the ultimate golden lampstand.
Revelation: 1:19: The structure of Revelation.
1 Peter 4:17: Judgment begins at the house of God.
Ephesians 4:11: The offices in the church.
Acts 20:29-30, 1 Peter. 5:2-3, 3 John 9-10: The beginnings of the clergy-laity system.
2 Corinthians 3:18: Transformed by beholding the Lord.
Numbers 23:21: God had not beheld iniquity in Israel.
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Recording
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 10 April 2024
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