While the whole of Revelations is a broad panarama of future events, the 7 Churches of Revelations was written about established churches in John's time and rich with historical pictures and identifying terms. It is also a shadow and type of the condition of the churches in the future before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said through Paul in Ephesians 5:26 that He would be coming back for "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be Holy and without blemish."

Even a cursory look at todays churches has not only left many unsatisfied and unfulfilled but has actually bruised and battered God's sheep!

Like a puzzle thrown up, and floating in the air is God's Master design for His church. He knows what the final picture should be and has been asking His people to trust and rely on Him for the finished product. Most disturbing to Him is that people have been grabbing one piece and calling it the whole picture! Others have taken one piece and started a new revelation or new doctrine out of that one piece. Still, others are trying to take the lock-in-pieces and making them to conform and trying to fit them into places where they do not belong.

But lest you think that God has left us ignorant as to how He intends to accomplish His will in the Body of Christ, let us go up a couple of verses from the above mentioned scriptures and see some of His Grand Design..

"....Christ (The Anointed One, The Messiah) also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; THAT HE MIGHT SANCTIFY (set apart unto God) AND CLEANSE IT WITH THE WASHING OF WATER BY THE WORD (of God) that HE might present it to Himself a Glorious church...."

Many many believers in this day and age have been sitting at home, neglecting fellowship, trying to heal from the wounds they have received from fellow believers. The Bible tells them (in Hebrews 10:25) "not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is..." so they set forth to obey the scriptures, seek out a Body of Believers who will welcome them in; only to be criticized, judged and condemned....they limp home to "work out their own salvation with fear and trembling"(Philipians 2:12) by struggling with feelings of unforgiveness, and offenses only to get up and try it again...

Those who have thus sat at home; praying and seeking to please the Heavenly Father are unaware then, that God is NOW, TODAY pouring out His Spirit in the churches. The Body of Christ is undergoing a change. No longer will Jesus allow such bruising and battering of His sheep. He is on the move, preparing His Body by preparing the individual believers for His soon return for His "Glorious Church".

For those of you I have just described, I have a message: Throw off those shackles of fear and doubt that our enemy has wrapped around you, using the enemies of the Cross of Christ against you. He is moving!! Yea, even now, you KNOW that He has been speaking to you about it. He has been sanctifying you individually. He has been nursing your wounds, applying the Balm of Gilead and causing you to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. He has so trained you while you have been recovering from such abuse, to be able, ready and willing to forgive, pray for and bless those who have injured you. He has been raising you up, preparing you to fulfill His call on your life. Yes, the Bible is TRUTH. We NEED to assemble together according to His Word. The second half of Hebrews 10:25 says to "not forsake (to leave forever) the assembling of ourselves together....But EXHORTING one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching. "Rise up in His power and enter in. Come within the Fold of God." WE NEED YOU!!!

We need always to measure our walk with God and His Body, assessing what we need improvement on and seeking to become for Him and for His, all that He recreated us to be. What measurement do we go by? In times past, we measured ourselves according to other men's walks. We measured ourselves by what others said to us.. We measured ourselves by our own fallable words and excuses. This need not be so.

The measurement that will be used by God is His Word and only His Word! The 7 churches of revelations is the perfect measurement by which we may accurately measure and weigh ourselves.

For each of the 7 churches, there is The Exhortation, The Correction and The promise that Jesus makes. Let us, as we continue on to view, to measure and to impliment His Grand design for the Body of Christ, prepare ourselves to become what He desires so that as puzzle pieces fit and lock into place, so we may be prepared to come together with the rest of the puzzle pieces and take our places within The Glorious Church.