The great writers and pamphleteers of the 19th Century "Brethren movement" were responsible for the recovery of the great promises of God that the Lord Jesus Christ would return to this earth in bodily form to establish the throne of His "greater son David" in Jerusalem, from where He would rule over a Kingdom of peace and righteousness for a thousand years.  This great hope of His glorious returning had been lost in the theological malaise of the Dark Ages and the Roman Church that ruled that period, and generally overlooked in the Reformation period that followed.  

These writers, along with many "fundamentalist" and "premillennial" writers of today, recognized an uncanny correlation between the subject matter of the seven letters Jesus addressed to "seven churches" at the end of the Apostolic Age through the apostle John and the development of the institutional church from the first century to modern times.  The more one understands about church history, the more striking this correlation becomes.

Many Christian teachers have pointed out this correlation in a general way, but few if any have noticed, or if they have noticed have failed to point out, two major themes that run through these letters; the position of the church in regards to Nicolaitanism, and expectations of the church in regards to His own Second Coming.

In the following articles, we attempt to make up this deficiency.  We are also able to see more clearly than men like C. I. Schofield, Harry Ironside, and Watchman Nee the correlation between the Lord's letter to the Laodicean church and the actual developments in the institutional church following the Philadelphian age of the restoration of dispensational, premillennial truth, as well as many principles of "simple church" when these men lived.  The result is rather surprising and is sure to meet with many objections, mainly from the true Laodicean camp.  But it is our hope that those who truly love the Lord of Truth and the Truth of the Lord will take a good hard look at what Jesus is saying to believers in this age.

These articles have recently been revised.  For a PDF version of an earlier edition of these articles in one volume, right-click the following link and "save target as." Seven Letters to Seven Churches PDF

The Letter to the Church at Ephesus

The Letter to the Church at Smyrna

The Letter to the Church at Pergamos

The Letter to the Church at Thyatira

The Letter to the Church at Sardis

The Letter to the Church at Philadelphia

The Letter to the Church at Laodicea

The Seven Parables of the Kingdom as they relate to the Seven Ages of the Church

Final Considerations

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