[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

The person who overcometh is all believers, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The letters in Rev. are written to Churches not individuals. How many of those churches are still around? I have no doubt that there were individuals who were saved, but the church itself became corrupt so it's lampstand was taken away. I believe this is why God intended each church to run itself independently. In the event that it became corrupt the true believers would leave and the church would eventually die out stopping the spread of false teachings.

In Genesis God did not want man to live forever after he had sinned because he would go on sinning, and become more and more corrupt as we have:) Can you imagine how this world would be if some of the really bad people lived forever? Yikes! Do you think any believers could have survived this long?

Any way, this is how I see these verses, I realize you do not agree. I have read the bible with the catholic teachings in mind, and given human nature, the catholic teachings just don't fit 100%, If you can't reconcile one point of the bible it throws the whole thing into question, IMO. Saved by faith only, and OSAS seems to me the only way to reconcile the entire bible, and
give the peace to believers that God promised.

Becky

[JohnnyM]

I also believe that the letters to the Churches in Revelations are prophecies for the church, describing its life cycle throughout the age. I would say the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum are gone, while Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea still remain today.

One thing to note is to notice that the words "He who has an ear, let him hear .." comes before the message to the overcomers in the first 3 churches, but after the message in the last 4. I think this signifies that the first 3 belong to one group and the last 4 belong to another.

JM

[american colleen]

I have no doubt that there were individuals who were saved, but the church itself became corrupt so it's lampstand was taken away.

Becky, is it in the bible that one of the church's lampstands was taken away?