Revelation 2

Message to Ephesus
2 “To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Ephesus write:

“These are the words of the One who holds [firmly] the seven stars [which are the angels or messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (the seven churches):

2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil, and your patient endurance, and that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and have tested and critically appraised those who call themselves apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives, of Christ ), and [in fact] are not, and have found them to be liars and impostors; 3 and [I know that] you [who believe] are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and that you have not grown weary [of being faithful to the truth]. 4 But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]. 5 So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent. 6 Yet you have this [to your credit], that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the Nicolaitans [that mislead and delude the people], which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant [the privilege] to eat [the fruit] from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’

=== Message to Smyrna === 8 “And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Smyrna write:

“These are the words of the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God] who died and came to life [again]:

9 ‘I know your suffering and your poverty (but you are rich), and how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a <abbr title="Meta. A Jewish synagogue was a little chapel, where any one could hear the law read out of the Hebrew Scriptures; or if he was a Rabbi he could read out of the law himself. There was a constant stream of people going and coming in the synagogue, and it fitly represents the mind of man, or the phase of man's mind that is given over to religious thought. In the new birth, or regeneration, the rebuilding of your consciousness begins in this synagogue or religious mentality.

The synagogues of the Jews can also be said to represent aggregations of religious ideas based on Truth, thoughts that have not yet received the inspiration of the whole Truth. They are what might be called fixed religious states of consciousness.>synagogue of <abbr title="Meta. The deceiving phase of mind in man that has fixed ideas in opposition to Truth (adversary, lier in wait, accuser, opposer, hater, an enemy). Satan assumes various forms in man's consciousness, among which may be mentioned egotism, a puffing up of the personality; and the opposite of this, self-deprecation, which admits the accuser into the consciousness. This accuser makes man believe that he is inherently evil.

Satan is the Devil, a state of mind formed by man's personal ideas of his power and completeness and sufficiency apart from God. Besides at times puffing up the personality, this satanic thought often turns about and, after having tempted one to do evil, discourages the soul by accusing it of sin. Summed up, it is the state of mind in man that believes in its own sufficiency independent of its creative Source.">Satan [they are Jews only by blood, and do not believe and truly honor the God whom they claim to worship]. 10 Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested [in your faith], and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death [if you must die for your faith], and I will give you the crown [consisting] of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the <abbr title="Meta. Jesus represents God's idea of man in expression (Son of man); Christ is that idea in the absolute (Son of God). The Christ is the man that God created in His image and likeness, the perfect-idea man, and is the real self of all men.

Christ is the one and only complete, ideal man in the mind of the everywhere present God; the only begotten Son of God and hid with Christ in God. The Son of man is the thought of this spiritual man, or idea of God, and like all thoughts is subject to the limitations of its own identity. By voluntarily casting off these limitations the man identity may come into realization of its own universality as the only begotten of God. So we find Jesus referring to Himself as both the Son of God and the Son of man, because He had reached a place in understanding where He realized His relation to Being. In John 7:29 Jesus explains this realization when He says, I know him; because I am from him, and he sent me.">Son of God ] will not be hurt by the second <abbr title="Meta. Dying is the name that we give to that state of negation in man's consciousness wherein he no longer can retain possession of his body. Death is always the result of a failure to recognize God as the source of wisdom and life. When the soul falls short in this respect, it sins and there is a physical dissolution that is but the outer symbol of mental negation or spiritual inertia.

This death or dissolution of the body is the second death, over the meaning of which church people have so long contended. The first death is where the consciousness has lost sight of spiritual wisdom and sunk into the belief that God is absent from man and the universe. This belief is the being dead through your trespasses and sins.>death (the lake of fire ).’

Message to Pergamum
12 “And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Pergamum write:

“These are the words of Him who has and wields the sharp two-edged sword [in judgment]:

13 ‘I know where you dwell, [a place] where Satan sits enthroned. Yet you are holding fast to My name, and you did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed (martyred) among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some [among you] who are holding to the [corrupt] teaching of <abbr title="Meta. Balaam belongs to the mental sense plane in man. He is a foreigner, in so far as the true Israelitish consciousness is concerned. Yet he represents that in our contentious, sense nature (Midian) which, though ever striving for the ascendancy, discerns the superiority of Spirit and cannot fight openly against the Truth. This discernment that Balaam represents, however being of the sense man and reaching no higher in its expression than the phase of the psychical that is governed by the sense mind, is deceptive. It seeks in subtle ways to undermine, adulterate, and destroy the Israelitish thoughts that are continually struggling to gain a more perfect comprehension, realization, and expression of Truth. In the end, all of sense is overcome and its powers of discernment are lifted to a higher plane of activity. (The Moabites and Midianites were defeated, and Balaam, who was fighting with them against the Hebrews, was slain.)">Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of <abbr title="Meta. The significance of the changing of Jacob's name to Israel is this: The mind controls the body through the nerves, and a great nerve, the sciatic, runs down the leg through the hollow of the thigh. The will acts directly through this nerve and when the individual, through his mentality or understanding (Jacob), exercises his I AM power upon the natural man in an attempt to make unity between Spirit and the divine-natural, there is a letting go of human will (Jacob's thigh is out of joint). A great light of understanding breaks in the struggling soul when it discovers that there is a divine-natural body, and it clings to that inner life and strength and eventually brings it to the surface in perpetual vigor. This is the significance of the blessing and the new name, Israel (one who has power with God and man, spiritual and material).">Israel, [enticing them] to eat things that had been sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of sexual] immorality. 15 You also have some who in the same way are holding to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will]; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war and fight against them with the sword of My mouth [in judgment]. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], to him I will give [the privilege of eating] some of the hidden <abbr title="manna--The bread of life; the Word of God. Represents the realization that the divine substance is everywhere present, in every part of the consciousness.">manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name engraved on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.’

=== Message to <abbr title="Meta. The intense desire of the soul for the higher expressions of life (burning incense, inspired, perfume). Zeal is the central thought represented by this church; it is also connected with power and faith.">Thyatira === 18 “And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Thyatira write:

“These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes [that flash] like a flame of <abbr title="Meta. Fire is generally used in the Bible as a symbol of destruction of evil and error. It stands for cleansing and purification. In its true essence it is the fire of Spirit, or the divine energy, which never ceases its life-giving, purifying glow; when its cleansing work is completed in man's mind and body there is no more error to be consumed, and it then manifests in purified man as his eternal life. Our God is a consuming fire. Besides being "a consuming fire," our God is Spirit, life, love, substance, power, intelligence, Truth.

Fire also represents the positive, affirmative state of mind, as opposed to the negative or watery state.">fire [in righteous judgment], and whose feet are like burnished [white-hot] <abbr title="Bronze Symbolizes Strength and Support">bronze :

19 ‘I know your deeds, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your last deeds are more numerous and greater than the first. 20 But I have this [charge] against you, that you tolerate the woman <abbr title="Meta. The animal soul, unbridled passions of sense consciousness. When the union of the ruling identity in the intellect (King Ahab) and the licentious desires of the body is complete, the whole man is involved in error. This is rearing "an altar for Baal in the house of Baal" (I Kings 16:32).

Jezebel could also be called the ruling emotions on the physical plane of consciousness. She met a violent death; passion and appetites burn themselves out (II Kings 9:30-37).">Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and she teaches and misleads My bond-servants so that they commit [acts of sexual] immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent [to change her inner self and her sinful way of thinking], but she has no desire to repent of her immorality and refuses to do so. 22 Listen carefully, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit <abbr title="adultery--Mixed thoughts, errors that have their existence in the unregenerated feelings; thoughts that have not come under the dominion of the I AM.">adultery with her [I will bring] into great anguish, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 And I will kill her children (followers) with <abbr title="a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.">pestilence [thoroughly annihilating them], and all the churches will know [without any doubt] that I am He who searches the minds and hearts [the innermost thoughts, purposes]; and I will give to each one of you [a reward or punishment] according to your deeds. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the depths of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you, 25 except to hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 And he who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] and he who keeps My deeds [doing things that please Me] until the [very] end, to him I will give authority and power over the nations; 27 and he shall shepherd and rule them with a <abbr title="Meta. The rod represents spiritual power. Men have always considered a rod to be a symbol of power. The wizard waves a wand and the king carries a scepter to show his power. The staff or club is probably man's earliest tool. Through the ages it has assisted him inhis rise to mastery.

In the Bible the rod also represents life. In this connection note that Aaron's rod burst into bloom and also turned into a serpent (an Oriental symbol of life). Aaron symbolizes the executive function of divine law. This power expressed itself through his rod. So the rod may rightly be considered a symbol of the power of divine life.

The rod is a symbol of mastery, a symbol of our Christ dominion. When we have gained the Christ mastery, it is expressed in our thoughts as order and strength and in our body as life.">rod of <abbr title="Meta. A consciousness of strength (Naphtali), but one not yet established in love. We always have a deep respect (reverence) for strength. If, however, the love faculty has not been awakened in us to any appreciable degree, if we have not come to know God as love and to realize the value of love's working in unison with strength, our ideas of strength are hard; they build up fear in us. Thus our consciousness of strength (Iron) becomes a place of terror instead of being an assurance of protection and good only. (The definitions of Iron show clearly how the positive vision falls into terror on the negative side.)">iron, as the earthen pots are broken in pieces, as I also have received authority [and power to rule them] from My Father; 28 and I will give him the <abbr title="star--Represents man's first awakening before he realizes his Christ wisdom and power. The morning star heralds the coming of light and the glory of the sun. In like progressive unfoldment, the mind has its star of promise, which leads on to wisdom, then to final glory in the sun of righteousness, which is the Son of God.">Morning Star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 1