THE
BOOK OF REVELATION
SEVEN CHURCHES
Revised Standard Version
(Unless Otherwise Indicated)
THE
Seven Churches of Revelation 2-3 are symbolic of 7 groups calling
themselves "Baha'i", only one of which is the true Baha'i
faith. Shoghi Effendi provided only one criteria in order to determine
who was and who was not a true Baha'i:
"Regarding
the very delicate and complex question of ascertaining the qualifications
of a true believer,...[I only state]...the principal factors that
must be taken into consideration before deciding whether a person
may be regarded a true believer or not.
"Full
recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and
the True Exemplar of the Baha'i Cause, as set forth in 'Abdu'l-Baha's
Testament; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever
has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence
to every clause of our Beloved's sacred Will; and close association
with the spirit as well as the form of the present-day Baha'i
administration throughout the world—these I conceive to
be the fundamental and primary considerations that must be...
ascertained before reaching such a vital decision.""[1]
This
criteria was used as the Baha'i faith membership card in the days
of Shoghi Effendi. A true believer was someone who had loyal and
steadfast adherence to every clause of the Will and Testament
of 'Abdu'l-Baha. An administration that does not incorporate
all the elements of that Will and Testament cannot be said
to embody "loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of
our Beloved's sacred Will." Such an administration is not composed
of true believers and thus is not the true Baha'i faith.
Six
of the seven churches described in chapters two and three of the
Book of Revelation, are not in accordance with every clause of 'Abdu'l-Baha's
Will and Testament and thus are false claimants to the
name "Baha'i." Five of these six false groups came into
existence after the passing of Shoghi Effendi when the Baha'is were
scattered by the inaugural Covenant-breaking of the "Hands"
of the Cause. The sixth one is a dissident group which broke off
later from the true Baha'i faith.
The
principal factor at issue in Covenant-breaking is always the matter
of successorship. At the passing of Baha'u'llah some did not want
to accept His successor 'Abdu'l-Baha. At the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha
some did not want to accept his successor Shoghi Effendi. At the
passing of Shoghi Effendi the entire Baha'i world was in the dark
concerning his successor, some not comprehending to this day that
he even had a successor.
The
successor to Shoghi Effendi was his lineal descendent, the first
International Baha'i Council (IBC). This IBC was the embryonic stage
of the Universal House of Justice (UHJ) and thus was that same entity
of the UHJ, as in the stages of growth of human beings and other
life-forms. The membership of this council was directly appointed
by Shoghi Effendi, thus it is his lineal descendant, coming from
him in a straight line. Shoghi Effendi's successor was alive and
in the world 6 years before he died in 1957.
At
the head of this council, Shoghi Effendi placed as the president
and member-for-life Charles Mason Remey. This, and the fact that
Mason was 'Abdu'l-Baha's adopted son, qualified Mason as a guardian.
This is in accordance with the clause on page 12 of the Will
and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha—that the succeeding guardian
must be a son and appointed by the preceding guardian in his lifetime.
Page 14 gives us the clause that the guardian of the Cause of God
is the head of the UHJ.
Shoghi
Effendi's interpretation of his unique station was that even though
he was the Guardian of the Cause of God he was not a member and
not the president/head of the IBC/UHJ. This is because the very
last part of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha—Part
Three, on the very last page, provided that Shoghi Effendi was the
"Center of the Cause." The Center of the Cause is a station
in addition to being the Guardian of the Cause. The Center of the
Cause provision places Shoghi Effendi in the position to infallibly
guide and rule the Baha'i faith by himself, without assistance from
any other individual or administrative body.
As
the infallible Center of the Baha'i faith, Shoghi Effendi was restricted
from membership on that IBC in any of its stages, including the
final stage—the Universal House of Justice. This is because
'Abdu'l-Baha stated in Some Answered Questions [2]
that no single member of the UHJ has infallibility
but only the general body. Thus, the head or president, the member-for-life,
does not have infallibility, and therefore Shoghi Effendi could
never be the head, or any other member of that institution, as it
is not possible for him to abdicate his station of infallibility
as the Center of the Cause.
Another
reason why Shoghi Effendi could not be the president of the UHJ
was that, as he was not descended from Baha'u'llah in the male line,
but was the son of 'Abdu'l-Baha's daughter, he did not inherit the
Davidic Kingship. The Davidic Kingship passes down through the male
line only, so it was passed down to 'Abdu'l-Baha's adopted son,
Mason Remey.
So
Shoghi Effendi's placement of Mason as a guardian who fulfills the
role of the president of the UHJ does not give Mason, or any succeeding
guardian, the station of Shoghi Effendi, as Shoghi Effendi's station
began and ended with him in the same way that 'Abdu'l-Baha's station
began and ended with 'Abdu'l-Baha. Only the entire body of the IBC/UHJ
has a similar position of being the center of authority, the center
that wards off differences, as provided on pages 11, 14 and 20 of
the Will and Testament.
The
institution of guardianship, now restricted to the presidency of
the UHJ, remains the "Sign of God"
on earth, meaning that whatever Baha'i administration has this sign
from God, the guardian, at its head, that is the true Baha'i administration,
and any other is false.
Only
one of the 7 churches adheres to the true Guardian and Institution
of Guardianship and every clause of the Will and Testament.
The other six have broken off from the Guardianship in various degrees
and their status is determined according to their theology about
the Institution of Guardianship and their adherence to the true
Guardianship.
Four
of these groups are identified in the Covenant-breaking publication
Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Babi and Baha'i
Faiths, by William P. Collins, George Ronald Press; and Encyclopedia
of American Religions, 3rd Edition.
The
messages to each church cite what counts in their favor and what
counts against them. At the end of each message is a general announcement:
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to
the churches" regarding those "who conquer".
I will just quote the passages specific to each church, thereby
identifying it.
In
the Book of Revelation events are not always recorded in chronological
sequence, in order to address the churches chronologically as they
emerged in time we depart from the order in which they are recorded
in Revelations.
The
six false groups:
CHURCH
OF THYATIRA
Those
who followed the "Hands." Today they accept the illegitimate
UHJ, and constitute the "mainstream" of Covenant-breakers
calling themselves the "Baha'i World Faith." This largest
group is divided into two parts. The first part of the message is
to those who accept the lies of the "Hands"
of the Cause, the illegitimate UHJ, and have no love for the truth.
The second part of the message to Thyatira is for those who will
come out of them, the 144,000.
Revelation
2:19-23: "I know your works, your love and faith and service
and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel,
who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my
servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed
to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent
of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and
those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation,
unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children
dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches
mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve."
The
latter works that exceed the first means the works of the 144,000
exceed the works of those people among the Covenant-breakers who
were in the Faith before 1957. These 144,000 will have to re-establish
the Faith in all the countries of the world as in the 10-year world
spiritual crusade.
But
the main body of Covenant-breakers adores the Jezebel, Ruhiyyih
Khanum. Historically, Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab of Israel—the
Northern Kingdom. She instituted paganism among the 10 northern
tribes, who had split off from the Kings of David. This is descriptive
of Ruhiyyih, the wife of the Guardian, instituting false teachings
among the modern day Israel (those that strive by the word of God)
that has split off from the Kingship of David, which is the guardianship.
Jezebel
had the prophets of Israel put to death. Ruhiyyih has put to death
the spirit of the faith among the group that follows her. Eventually
Elijah rose against Jezebel's pagan priests putting them to death
at the foot of Mt. Carmel. Jezebel was put to death with trampling
by chariots, then her body was thrown outside the city and consumed
by dogs. The body of Ruhiyyih Khanum is the body of that false UHJ
and the dogs (infidels) that consume this are the followers of that
body. They are outside the city of the Covenant and outside the
Faith.
The
Nicolaitans [3] were a sect that brought
paganism into Christianity, they were identified as those who ate
food sacrificed to idols. The mainstream Covenant-breakers are the
Nicolaitans, it says God hates their works in Revelations 2:6. The
food sacrificed to idols is that they should all take part in that
false administration fashioned by their own hands (idol), seeking
spiritual sustenance from it rather than the Revelation, and expecting
that their salvation is found in being members of it.
Those
who follow Jezebel are those who commit adultery, which is symbolic
for idolatry. This is connected with Revelations 18:7. Ruhiyyih
Khanum, Jezebel, is like the adulterous harlot of Rev. 18 who says:
"A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see."
The
sickbed of Jezebel indicates that spiritual disease of Covenant-breaking,
which is a blood-disease that they contract from intercourse with
the harlot, as blood in scripture is a symbol of the Covenant. Her
child is the false UHJ she created and its followers, they are "struck
dead" spiritually by accepting her false teachings.
Revelation
2:24-28: "But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not
hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep
things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other
burden; only hold fast what you have, until I come. He who conquers
and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over
the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when
earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received
power from my Father; and I will give him the morning star."
For
those who disown this false group great things are in store. They
have "power over the nations" meaning it is the
144,000 who will teach the nations, bringing them into the Kingdom.
These nations shall elect the body of the UHJ which then rules over
each nation with the iron rod of its authority. This iron rod breaks
up the earthen pots of the man made governments, including the man
made UHJ of the "Hands."
The
city of Thyatira was different from the others in that it was populated
by a large mixture of races. The mainstream Covenant-breakers, unlike
any of the other groups, are of all different races and nationalities
all over the planet.
It
is written that if the Baha'is should deviate from the Covenant
there would arise in a short period of time many opposing "Baha'i"
sects. The result of the violation of the "Hands" was
that it initiated the birth of other "Baha'i" sects all
of which is divisive and confusing. The group following the "Hands"
and their illegitimate UHJ is itself, in essence, divided up into
1,000s of sects as each person has their own interpretation of what
is a "Baha'i." They say: "I'm a Christian Baha'i,"
or "I'm a Buddhist Baha'i," or even "I'm a pagan
Baha'i." They do not have the understanding that Baha'i is
not just a social movement, such as Secular Humanism or other philosophies,
but that it is the Religion of God and when you enter the Religion
of God you leave your past ways behind. The veil has not been removed
for these people.
At
the council of Badasht, Tahirih appeared in public without her veil,
her face exposed to all eyes. This demonstrated graphically to the
Babis that they were no longer Muslims. There was no such thing
as a "Muslim Babi". You were either a Babi or something
else, but not both. Likewise, you are either a Baha'i—who
accepts absolutely the Covenant—or something else. You cannot,
in your heart, be a member of another religion and be a Baha'i also.
Baha'u'llah said in the Persian Hidden Words #26 and #27
that we should cast the stranger out of our hearts so that the Friend
might abide there.
Why
did this Happen ?
In
1961, when Dr. Leland Jensen visited the Guardian, Mason Remey,
in Washington D.C., this question came up amongst the believers
assembled there. Mason explained that this was a test—that
iniquities must come, as it says in the Bible, but woe betide them
by whom they come. In the Book of Certitude Baha'u'llah
makes this clear: "Even as He hath Revealed: "Do men think
when they say 'We believe' they shall be let alone and not put to
the proof?"[4] The purpose of the
test is not so that God should know where the people are at, He
already knows where they are at. The purpose of the test is so that
the people should know where they are at. The history of the Faith
demonstrates that these tests always come on the Covenant. Adib
Taherzadeh in his book, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah,
explains this very well, although he himself did not pass the test:
"They
(Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha) interpreted the Scriptures of
the past, explained many of their abstruse passages and statements,
elucidated divine mysteries, expounded the Teachings of God
for this age, delineated the features of a New World Order and
gave the details of the application of the laws and ordinances
of Baha'u'llah.
"However,
on the subject of succession they remained silent and only at
the end of Their lives did They disclose the identity of Their
successors. There are many wisdoms in this. Such an action may
be likened to that of a teacher who is always ready to answer
questions and help his pupils solve their problems. Only on
one occasion does he remain silent and refrain from helping
them, namely, on the day of examination. On
that day the students alone will have to find the answers. It
is their test and it is also the day
of separation. Those who pass are elevated to a higher
class and those who fail are not.
"The
history of the Faith demonstrates that the Covenant
has always provided the testing-ground for
the believers. The Bab gave the glad-tidings of the appearance
of 'He Whom God shall make Manifest' but did not explicitly
disclose the identity of Baha'u'llah. Baha'u'llah established
a mighty Covenant appointing 'Abdu'l-Baha as the Centre of that
same Covenant but kept this appointment a well-guarded secret
until, shortly before His Ascension, He handed the Kitab-i-Ahdi
(Book of My Covenant) to 'Abdu'l-Baha. This document, in the
terms of the above analogy, became the examination paper for
the entire body of Baha'u'llah's followers. Some
passed and others failed the test. Similarly,
the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha in which Shoghi
Effendi was appointed as the Guardian of the Faith was kept
a secret. It was after His passing that this document was read.
Again, this produced tests for the believers. Some who had ambitious
ideas and a lust for leadership opposed Shoghi Effendi as the
Guardian of the Faith."[5]
Either
the Baha'is knew the Covenant and were pure of heart and therefore
they passed the test; or they didn't know the Covenant (as was the
case with the majority of the believers), or they didn't have a
pure heart (as was the case with the "Hands"), and so
they failed the test.
In
the Tablet of Ahmad it says that the wisdom of every command
will be tested. These tests are essential so that some time down
the line after the Kingdom is established these violations will
not be repeated—because of this test, when so many millions
of people have perished because the "Baha'is" broke the
Covenant and took over the control of the administration and corrupted
it, leading the world into the great catastrophe. The reason God
allowed this to happen was for a learning experience, so that in
the future, for a full thousand years, no one will violate even
a hair's breadth to the right or to the left. Because of the severity
of the catastrophe no individual or group would be able to hijack
the Kingdom away from the people, under any pretext, artifice and
stratagem, in the future.
The
Baha'i faith had a message for the world, but the Covenant-breakers
don't give that message: that the descendant of King David must
be the president of Baha'u'llah's Universal House of Justice so
we can recognize the true UHJ from fakes, frauds and imitations.
Either you know the Will and Testament (W&T) of 'Abdu'l-Baha
and are pure in heart—PASS the test—Or don't know the
W&T—don't have a pure heart—and FAIL the test.
Mason
explained to those gathered that they had already passed the first
test: that now they knew that the Guardianship would never end.
Then he told them that he was going to test them again and that
this time they would not know who the next guardian was. He then
showed them a medallion that he had made for Shoghi Effendi saying
that he never had an occasion to give it to him while he was alive.
He said that the one that they would see wearing this medallion
after his passing would be the next guardian. They asked him, "Is
that how you are going to appoint him?" and he said, "No."
Thus Mason said, he was going to test them again, and then he gave
away the test. Passing these tests is as easy as falling off a log.
After
stating this, Mason Remey proceeded, over the course of several
years, to appoint several different persons to be decoy "guardians"
for his test. For instance, after stating that the head cannot create
the body and that the body cannot create the head, he appointed
an IBC, naming the different members of it "vice president
number one," "vice-president number two," and so
forth, with the implication that the highest one left on the list
to survive the common catastrophe after his death would be the next
guardian. As none of them were his son, and as he had already stated
that the head cannot create the body and that the body cannot create
the head, they should have all realized that this was a test. Instead
they all started fighting with one another, calling each other Covenant-breaker,
etc..., arguing about who would survive and be top of the list.
It was such a debacle that Mason dissolved that council. He then
appointed "elders" (naming only four or five) with the
same program, that the one to survive at the top of the list after
his death would be the next guardian, again none of these were his
son. In addition, he wrote a letter to Joel Marangella who was also
not his son.
Finally
all the believers fell away, following after different decoy "guardians,"
many even while Mason was still alive! But none of these supposed
"guardians" were adopted by Mason Remey as his son, with
the exception of Joseph Pepe. Mason said they wouldn't know who
the guardian was, and this was because they didn't know the Covenant.
In the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, it gives the
criteria for recognizing the guardian: that he should be a son,
and that he should be appointed by the previous guardian.
Instead
of going by this criteria of the Sacred Will, the followers of these
ones looked at the personal qualities, or something else, of the
candidates for guardianship, thinking they could judge by how "spiritual"
they were. This was the test, whether or not they would follow the
Covenant (W&T) in trying to discern who the guardian
was—that they should know that the guardian has to be a son
and appointed. Despite their knowledge of the violation of the "Hands,"
these Baha'is still hadn't learned to follow the Covenant. After
Mason passed on, Dr. Leland Jensen wrote to Joseph Pepe Remey asking
about the medallion. Pepe wrote back that (as Mason's only son he
had inherited everything of Mason's "both material and spiritual")
in fact he was wearing that very medallion around his neck as he
wrote the letter.[6] Only Pepe Remey fulfilled
both criteria to be a son and to be appointed by the previous guardian.
The
people should have stuck with the provisions of the Will and
Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha and not turned to something else.
They must be a son and be appointed during the lifetime of the reigning
guardian. Instead of going by criteria they looked at qualities.
The Covenant-breakers go into the fire! Despite their knowledge
of the violation of the "Hands," these Baha'is still hadn't
learned to follow the Covenant.
Since
then these followers have split off into different groups as follows.
CHURCH
OF LAODICEA
Those
who followed "the Man," Jamshid Ma'ani, who claimed an
independent prophethood. The group was organized around John Carre
and called itself the "Faith of God", the "House
of Mankind" and the "Universal Palace of Order".
Revelation
3:15-17: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are luke-warm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. For
you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not
knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked."
This
church hasn't even a semblance of the Baha'i administration. They
centered around the "Man," who claimed independent prophethood
and threw out the teachings of 'Abdu'l-Baha. They are lukewarm because
they no longer care about the guardianship or the Baha'i faith and
are no longer active (listed as "defunct" in Encyclopedia
of Religions). They have their own plan, which may or may not
include a guardian. The guardianship is not of particular importance
in their teachings.
CHURCH OF EPHESUS
Those
who followed Joel Marangella, organized as the "Orthodox Baha'i
Faith," and the "Mother Baha'i Council."
Revelation
2:2-6: "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance,
and how you cannot bear evil men but have tested those who call
themselves apostles but are not, and found them to be false; I
know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake,
and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that
you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from
what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first.
If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its
place, unless you repent. Yet this you have, you hate the works
of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."
At
the urging of Rex King, Joel Marangella claimed the guardianship,
abandoning Mason Remey while the Guardian (Mason) was still alive.
This is the "abandoned the love you had at first,"
meaning this group is not firm in the Covenant. Still, they teach
and accept that Mason was the guardian of the Faith so they have
not fallen as far as four of the other churches. Marangella, however,
is not a son and does not qualify. They are also very active against
the mainstream Covenant-breakers (Nicolaitans).
CHURCH
OF PERGAMUM
Those
who followed Rex King as the regent guardian now organized as the
"Orthodox Baha'i Faith Under the Regency."
Revelation
2:13: "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is..."
Rex
King tried to usurp the guardianship from Mason, wanting Mason to
name him as a regent guardian. Mason Remey designated him the Satan
of this period. Rex King split a large group of believers away from
Mason in the Marangella group, then he split off from Marangella,
thus forming his own private sect. Like Satan of old he turned the
people away from the true Faith. Rex is neither a son, nor appointed
and does not fulfill either criteria of the Will and Testament.
He is an usurper. Today, this group rejects that Mason was a guardian
and also rejects the administration as set up by Shoghi Effendi;
instead they have a council of regent guardians until such time
as a descendent of Baha'u'llah appears and assumes the guardianship.
This
is despite the fact that in the Covenant, Kitab-i-Ahd,
Baha'u'llah only appointed the Davidic line (throne of David/Aghsan)
to continue through 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Center of His Covenant, disqualifying
anyone else, with the rest, like Muhammad-Ali and the family of
Shoghi Effendi disqualifying themselves by violating the everlasting
Covenant and being removed from the Cause of God for Covenant-breaking.
'Abdu'l-Baha makes this point clear in his Last Tablet to America:
"Consider! The Divine Gardener cuts off
the dry or weak branch from the good tree and grafts to it, a branch
from another tree. He both separates and unites. This is that which
his Holiness Christ says: that from all the world they come and
enter the Kingdom, and the children of the Kingdom shall be cast
out."[7] This also shows their ignorance
of the Covenant, as being a son is only one of the necessary criteria
for guardianship, the son must also be appointed in the lifetime
of the previous guardian. Thus there is no one else other than the
line of David (Aghsan/Branches) continued through Baha'u'llah and
His son, 'Abdu'l-Baha, and his son, Mason Remey, and his only son,
Joseph Pepe Remey Aghsan, that he appointed to succeed him.
CHURCH OF SMYRNA
Those
who accepted Donald Harvey as guardian after Mason Remey's death
loosely affiliated in the "Charles Mason Remey Society"
of Francis C. Spataro.
Revelation
2:9-11: "I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you
are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews
and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you
are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some
of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you
will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give
you the crown of life."
Donald
Harvey did not arise to claim the guardianship until after Mason's
death when Joseph Pepe Remey, Mason's adopted son, directed the
people to follow Harvey. Pepe had convinced Mason to write a letter
making Harvey the guardian. Thus his followers are "rich,"
they believe in the guardianship but also they are "poor,"
they don't actually have a guardian. Francis C. Spataro was the
one who endured the slander of the synagogue of Satan when he was
rejected by the Rex King group.
Today
they follow Jacques Soghomonian as the guardian.
CHURCH
OF SARDIS
Dissidents to the Lamb and the Covenant
Those
who believed in Dr. Leland Jensen as the return of Jesus, the High
Priest based on His proofs, but broke off from him to form a loose
knit group having individual interpretations of the meaning of the
Covenant and united only in their opposition to Jesus on his return.
At first they accepted the Guardianship of Joseph Pepe Remey, but
since then some of them have signed a document declaring allegiance
to Jacques Soghomonian, who was not a son. They are loosely organized
through "The Friends Newsletter."
This
newsletter contains the editorial statement: "The Friends Newsletter
is a way for Baha'is to stay in touch and become unified in the
Revelation, and still feel free to express their thoughts, whatever
they may be;" and, "It [the newsletter] strives to foster
unity..." Comparing this with the Sacred Will and Testament
of 'Abdu'l-Baha, we find this motto to be in violation of the
Covenant:
"To
none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express
his particular convictions. All must seek guidance and turn
unto the Center of the Cause [Shoghi Effendi] and the House
of Justice [with the guardian as its president]. And he that
turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error."
(Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 26)
And
this group continues to use unity ("It [the newsletter] strives
to foster unity...") as their excuse for violation:
"...
and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived
himself and perturbed and poisoned others. No doubt every vain
glorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not
openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure
gold, would he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts
that he may separate the gathering of the people of Baha."
(Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 12)
Revelation
3:1-5: "I know your works; you have the name of being alive,
and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on
the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in
the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard;
keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like
a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not
soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for
they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments,
and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess
his name before my Father and before his angels."
This
group claims to be the true Baha'is having the "true spirituality",
and the true understanding of the Covenant. This is the "name
of being alive." But they are spiritually dead because
they knew more of the truth than the other groups and turned against
it. What they received and heard is the proofs of prophesied name,
date, address, and mission to recognize the Promised Ones. None
of the other groups go by proofs.
The
"few names" are those who were poisoned by the
twisted thinking and doctrine of Sardis, and because of that left
the Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant (BUPC), but they
don't swallow the lies of Sardis either, and aren't actively attacking
the Baha'i faith, thus they have not "soiled their garments."
This is like the story of Snow White: the evil queen gave her a
poison apple which was supposed to kill her but it got caught in
her throat and she didn't swallow it. But the poison made her fall
into a deep, deep sleep, until a Prince (Knight on a white horse)
came along and giving her a kiss (voicing the teachings) revives
her. The Knight on the white horse is the Knight of Baha'u'llah,
Dr. Leland Jensen.
Then
it says: "I will not blot his name out of the book of life."
The only names written into the Lamb's book of life are the names
of those who accepted the return of Jesus, the Lamb. Having a name
blotted out means that name was written in the book to start with
and then had to be erased. So this clearly identifies the dissident
group, as they are the only group who originally accepted the Lamb
and then turned against him, thus being under the threat of having
their name blotted out unless they repent. None of the other groups
have accepted the Lamb and then rejected him, most have yet to discover
him. Muhammad said: the worst thing that could happen to a person
is to know the truth and then to go against it. This is the unforgivable
sin. Jesus said it would have been better if he had never been born.
The
seventh church is the true one continuing the Baha'i faith as Revealed
by Baha'u'llah, interpreted and delineated by 'Abdu'l-Baha, and
first instituted by Shoghi Effendi.
CHURCH
OF PHILADELPHIA
THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
Those
who follow the Lamb wherever he goes, known as "Baha'is Under
the Provisions of the Covenant."
Revelation
3:7-11: "The words of the holy one, the true one, who has
the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and
no one opens. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you
an open door, which no one is able to shut; I know that you have
but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied
my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who
say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will
make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I
have loved you. Because you have kept my word of patient endurance,
I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming
on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth.
I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may
seize your crown".
This
is the only group that knows the meaning of "Christ,"
and the true meaning of the guardianship, the Christ of the Baha'i
World Order, thus is mentioned the "key of David."
Because of this knowledge they know that the other groups are false.
The term "Christ" designates a male-sperm descendant of
David. The "key of David" is the meaning of the
word "Christ". Baha'u'llah came from this genealogy and
so did His son 'Abdu'l-Baha, who adopted Mason Remey. Mason Remey
became the next Davidic King after 'Abdu'l-Baha. Shoghi Effendi
then appointed Mason as the president-head of the IBC/UHJ making
him the next Guardian, thus the Davidic Kingship continues on in
the Institution of Guardianship. There are two criteria for a claim
to the Guardianship, the first is that he must be, physically or
legally, a son; the second is that he must be appointed by the previous
guardian.
The
"opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one
opens" refers to the doors of interpretation, of that
of Dr. Leland Jensen, who fulfilled the prophecies for the return
of Jesus, the Lamb, Jesus the High priest after the Order of Melchizedec,
Jesus that had the stone with seven eyes before him in Zech. 3:9,
Who began his mission in 1963, the date given by Daniel, the seventh
angel, "Blessed is he who comes to the 1335 days", and
many, many more. He is the one who gave us these interpretations
of this book of Revelation.
The
"having but little power" is the power
of large numbers of people which we do not have; this is because
God wants the people to know it is by His power that the Kingdom
will be established.
The
"synagogue of Satan" is the Rex King
group. When Dr. Jensen was released from Deer Lodge Prison he traveled
around the country amongst the different Baha'i groups hoping to
educate them. After he had visited the Rex King group they asked
one of their followers, Francis Spataro, to write a refutation of
Dr. Jensen's claim. Instead of doing that, this person wrote a refutation
of the Rex King group! They threw him out for that and afterwards
he started the "Mason Remey Society" uniting the loosely
affiliated Donald Harvey group through a newsletter. In the early
90's, he became an Episcopalian minister, but in his last newsletter
he declared that Dr. Jensen was the Knight and the true establisher
of the Baha'i Faith and that the true line of guardianship was just
as Dr. Jensen said, going from Mason to Pepe Remey, and not from
Mason to Donald Harvey to Jacques Soghomonian.
Philadelphia
is the only church of which nothing negative is said, unlike the
other groups it hasn't gone against God in any way whatsoever.
Smith's
Bible Dictionary states that the present day city at the site
of the ancient Philadelphia is named the "City of God."
The
ones that are firm in the Covenant of Baha'u'llah are "He who
conquers".
Revelation
3:12-13: "'He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write
on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God,
the New Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven,
and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches.''"
"pillar
in the temple of my God" is the ones who support the Covenant.
These are the "Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant"
who are guided by the return of Jesus the Lamb. Those who don't
have this guidance have gone astray.
"I
will write on him the name of my God," is the greatest name
of God given to those that become Baha'is. When one prays to God
by calling on Him by His name He hears his prayers. When you become
a Baha'i you will be given that name.
"and
the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem which comes down
from my God out of heaven," is Baha'i.
"and
my own new name" is Baha'u'llah
SYNOPSIS
OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Only
one of the 7 churches adheres to the true Guardian and Institution
of Guardianship and every clause of the Will and Testament. The
Institution of Guardianship, now restricted to the presidency of
the UHJ, remains the "Sign of God" on
earth, meaning that whatever Baha'i administration has this sign
from God, the guardian, at its head, that is the true Baha'i administration,
and any other is false. The other six have broken off from the guardianship
in various degrees and their status is determined according to their
theology about the Institution of Guardianship and their adherence
to the true Guardianship.
Let
us sum up our examination of the claims of each group according
to this criteria:
Church
of Thyatira
1.
The mainstream Covenant-breakers of "Baha'i World Faith"
threw out the guardianship entirely and are adamantly opposed
to any talk of the guardianship. Their "Hands of the Cause"
claimed to be in "succession" to the powers of the guardianship,
but they don't even remotely meet any of the criteria. Their administration
is completely divorced from the Covenant.
Church
of Laodicea
2.
The scattered individuals of "The Man" and his ex-promoter
John Carre, have nothing to say about the guardianship one way
or another. "The Man's" doctrine on the guardianship
was that he would abrogate it or not as he chose. This exposes
him as Covenant-breaker because the Covenant to David of Psalms
89 states that the lineage (never lack for a descendant) and the
institution (the throne) of the Davidic Kingship is to last forever.
Church
of Ephesus
3.
Joel Marangella did not fulfill the first criteria of being an
adopted or biological son therefore he could not be the guardian
even though he had a letter of appointment from Mason Remey.
Church
of Pergamum
4.
Rex King was not an adopted or biological son and did not even
have an appointment to guardianship from Mason Remey written or
verbal, therefore his claim is completely spurious. Currently
the Rex King group awaits the appearance of a male descendent
of Baha'u'llah separate from Mason to assume the guardianship,
this shows their ignorance of the Covenant as being a son is only
one of the necessary criteria for guardianship, the son must also
be appointed in the lifetime of the previous guardian.
Church
of Smyrna
5.
Donald Harvey was also not an adopted or biological son, therefore
his claim to the guardianship was invalid even though he was the
last person appointed as a guardian before Mason Remey died.
Church
of Sardis
6.
The dissidents to the Lamb, even though they know who the real
guardian is (because the Lamb taught them all of this), do not
know the true institution of guardianship, and have instead inserted
a fictitious, impostor institution in the place of the role of
the Davidic Kings as the President of the House of Justice.
Church
of Philadelphia
Brotherly Love
7.
The "Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant" know
that Joseph Pepe Remey, being a legally adopted son and being
appointed by Mason, fulfills the criteria of the guardian. They
also know that this does not put him in the lineage of the infallible
Afnan guardianship of Shoghi Effendi as Mason Remey was not adopted
by Shoghi Effendi, and was not given conferred infallibility by
Baha'u'llah (He conferred infallibility on 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi
Effendi and the elected Universal House of Justice). Mason Remey
was only given the presidency of the UHJ and was not the representative
of Shoghi Effendi on that body (Shoghi Effendi had a Liaison Officer),
also he was never made the head of the Faith as was Shoghi Effendi.
Therefore Mason Remey, and the Aghsan guardians descending from
that lineage, have no claim to the station of Infallible Interpreter
of the Baha'i Revelation. The station of infallible interpretation
continues with the general body of the House of Justice.

ENDNOTES
1
Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Community. [back]
2
Some Answered Questions, Part III, chapter 45, Explanation
of the Verse of the Kitab-i-Aqdas: "There is no Associate
for the Dawning-Place of Command in the Supreme Sinlessness,"
page 173 some editions, page 199 others. [back]
3
Smith's Bible Dictionary, in its explanation of Nicolaitans,
refers the reader to 2 Peter chapter 2, here it says (verses 1,
17, 19-22): "But false prophets also arose among the people,
just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly
bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master..."
Jezebel calls herself a prophetess. The Master is 'Abdu'l-Baha.
"These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for
them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved." "They
promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption;
for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. For if, after
they have escaped... they are again entangled in them and overpowered,
the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it
would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness
than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment [Will
and Testament] delivered to them. It has happened to them according
to the true proverb, "The dog turns back to his own vomit,
and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire." This group
turned away from the Will and Testament and spewed out
their own version of the faith, then, forgetting that it was their
own invention, they turn back to it, imagining it to be real, thus
eating their own vomit. [back]
4 Koran 29:2
cited from, Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 8-9. [back]
5
Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah, Volume One,
pp. 136-137. [back]
6
"Thursday, 24 July, 1975: My dear Leland Jensen: ...about Mason's
medallions. The one he always wore around his neck, I myself am
wearing at this moment. I treasure that. He removed it from his
own neck several weeks before dying. It seemed to burden him to
wear it. Yet, he would never be without it in previous times. One
of the larger medallions he had made (Silver with gold-plate) I
placed in his coffin along with a small vial of attar of roses and
a Baha'i prayer book and a photograph of the two of us. It is so
sad even to remember! The other ones (I believe I have a photograph
of Mason wearing the one you were particularly interested in).....are
surely amongst the things he left me." Joseph Pepe Remey to
Dr. Leland Jensen, Thursday, 24 July, 1975 in response to Dr. Leland
Jensen, July 19, 1975. [back]
7
Baha'i World Faith, p. 438. See also Genesis 49:10—Shiloh
prophecy. "All must regard the other Branches with affection,
but God hath not decreed unto them any right to the people's property."
Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Ahd (Book of the Covenant) cf., Baha'i
World Faith, p. 210. [back]
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