Season 1 Podcast 45, The Seven Letters of John to the Seven Churches

Season 1 Podcast 45, The Seven Letters of John to the Seven ChurchesThese Podcasts all come from a series of 4 books I have written entitled In Defense of Christianity.  Volume I, Freedom, is now available in E-Book, Paperback, and Audible at Ronald Messer.com or on Amazon and Audible.Today’s Podcast is taken from Volume IV, The Perfect Law of Liberty.  This Podcast is entitled “The Seven Letters of John.”The perfect law of liberty can be found in the seven letters of John to the seven churches as found in The Book of Revelation, Chapters 2 & 3.  The seven letters are addressed to the angels of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira (pronounced: thigh a tie ra), Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Pronounced: Lay oh dee cee ah).   The letters which symbolize the entire Church of Christ have the following categories: 1.  The Salutation to the Seven Churches2.  A Description of Christ3.  The Virtues of the churches4.  The Vices of the churches5.  The Admonitions to the churches6.  The Curses if they do not repent7.  The Blessings or Promises if they endure to the end8.  The Final Exhortation.Most of the churches fill all eight categories. One has no curses listed; one has no vices listed; and sadly, one has no virtues listed. but all have angels looking over them, all have admonitions, all have references to Christ, and all have promises if they repent and endure to the end.In this Podcast I shall address each category for they contain the teachings of Christ that apply to all members of his church. For the sake of brevity, I shall not list each church individually and define their categories, but rather I shall address the categories themselves in the order given.The letters are a call to repentance.  They teach us that obedience to law brings a blessing and disobedience to law brings an attendant cursing.  The important principle involved is that all blessings come from obedience to law.  And all curses come from disobedience to law.  God is never arbitrary, and he is no respecter of persons. The seven letters are divided into virtues and vices, blessings and curses.  If they repent, they will receive the blessings.  If they do not repent, they will receive a cursing. I shall discuss each category respectively.In each, the Salutation is addressed “Unto the angel of the church in” and the specific church is listed, named after the city.The references to Christ or separate names of Christ reveal the titles or attributes of Christ.  Linda, would you turn to the Book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3, and read the marked passages.