*** w89 4/1 p. 12 par. 7 Hear What the Spirit Says to the Congregations ***With this in mind, we understand that the seven congregations picture all congregations of anointed Christians after 1914, and the seven stars represent all anointed elders in those congregations. Moreover, elders who are of the “other sheep” are also, by extension, in Jesus’ right hand of control. (John 10:16) And the counsel to the seven congregations applies in principle to all the congregations of God’s people today around the world, including those made up of Christians with an earthly hope.
*** re chap. 6 pp. 31-32 pars. 18-19 Unlocking a Sacred Secret ***
It was also time for this slave to give special attention to the things written in Jesus’ messages to the seven congregations, as we see from what is stated therein. For example, Jesus refers to his coming to judge the congregations, which judgment began in 1918. (Revelation 2:5, 16, 22, 23; 3:3) He speaks of protecting the Philadelphia congregation from “the hour of test, which is to come upon the whole inhabited earth.” (Revelation 3:10, 11) This “hour of test” arrives only with the dawning of the Lord’s day in 1914, after which Christians were tested as to their loyalty to the established Kingdom of God.—Compare Matthew 24:3, 9-13.
19 For this reason, Jesus’ words to the congregations have had their major application since 1914. In this setting, the seven congregations picture all the congregations of anointed Christians during the Lord’s day. Moreover, during the past 70 years and more, the anointed Christians pictured by John have been joined by large numbers of believers whose hope is to live forever in Paradise on earth. The counsel of the glorified Jesus Christ and the conditions he found in the seven congregations as a result of his inspection apply with equal force to these, since there is only one standard of righteousness and faithfulness for all of Jehovah’s servants. (Exodus 12:49; Colossians 3:11) Thus, Jesus’ messages to the seven first-century congregations in Asia Minor are not mere historical curiosities. They mean life or death to each one of us. Let us, then, listen carefully to Jesus’ words.
