REVELATION CHAPTER 3:7-13, “Letter To Church Of Philadelphia”

Jim Bomkamp

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. In our last study, we looked at Jesus’ letter written to the church in Sardis.

1.1.1. We saw that this church represents the church of the Reformation era in church history.

1.1.2. We saw that Jesus had nothing good to say about this church as a whole although there were individuals in it who were walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. It appears that this was a church that Jesus felt as a whole was without hope.

1.1.3. The church had reformed from the Thyatirian doctrines and practices, however they hadn’t reformed enough.

1.2. In our study today, we are going to look at Jesus’ letter written to the church in Philadelphia.

1.2.1. We will see that this church represents the missionary-minded church from about the 1730’s until about 1900, or so

1.2.2. Like the persecuted church in Sardis, Jesus had no rebuke for this church

1.2.3. This was a church that was in a period of revival for Jesus had opened a door for ministry for them which no one could close.

2. VS 3:7 - “7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:” - Jesus tells John to dictate a letter from Him to the church in Philadelphia

2.1. The city of Philadelphia is known today as Alesehir, and it is located in Lydia about 28 miles southeast of Sardis in modern day Turkey. It was originally named after a king of Pergamos, Attalus Philadelphus, who built the city.

2.2. The Greek word ‘Philadelphia’ itself means “brotherly love”.

2.2.1. This is the seventh and final use of this Greek word in the New Testament. It is also found in (Rom. 12:10, 1Thess. 4:9, Heb. 13:1, 1 Peter 1:22, II Peter 1:7).

2.2.2. As we have seen, in each of the definitions of the names of the cities, the fingerprint of the Holy Spirit is seen when one hears what Christ says to the church. In the name ‘Philadelphia’, we see that in the church which is following Christ closely, there will abide a godly “brotherly love”.

2.3. The city of ‘Philadelphia’ had a history of severe earthquakes, and it was almost completely destroyed last in 60AD.

2.4. The land around Philadelphia was rich from volcanic activity and grapes were grown as one of its principal crops.

2.5. The city had at least a nominal Christian influence in it throughout history until all of the Christians left the city at the conclusion of WWI.

2.6. The letters to the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only ones in which Christ gives no criticism of the church.

2.6.1. The church in Sardis was under severe persecution and therefore did not need to be corrected by Christ, and the church in Philadelphia was spiritually where the Lord wanted it to be.

2.7. The church in ‘Philadelphia’ was in a period of revival and thus Christ says of them that they “have a little power”. It was a church which had Christ’s blessing upon it, and thus He says that He had placed before them an “open door which no man can shut”.

2.8. In Jesus’ description of Himself, He reveals in this verse how that He is the One who rules sovereignly over the churches, and that He is the One who causes the church’s fruit to either prosper or to wither away.

2.8.1. In His revelation of Himself to this church we see that this is the first church to which there is not some allusion to the vision which John had of Christ in chapter 1 of the book. The epistle to the next and last church, Laodicea, similarly has a revelation of Christ about Himself which does not refer back to John’s vision in chapter 1.

2.8.2. In this verse, Christ reveals five things about Himself to this church (things which we have seen always hold a key to understanding the message of Christ for the church):

2.8.2.1.He who is holy.

2.8.2.1.1.Instead of revealing something of a graphic nature about His resurrected presence, He says that He is ‘holy’. Jesus is different from all of creation in that He is truly and completely free from anything of moral corruption. He is worthy of worship for He is ‘holy’.

2.8.2.2.He who is true.

2.8.2.2.1.Christ is the “true and faithful witness”, and every word spoken by Him can be depended upon to accomplish exactly what He says it shall accomplish.

2.8.2.3.He has the key of David.

2.8.2.3.1.We saw in chapter 1 how that Christ says of Himself that He has the keys of “death and hades”, and here He says that He also has the key of David, which means that as the King, He has the key to the throne and kingdom of David and all of its riches.

2.8.2.3.2.From the book of Revelation, we see that Jesus holds all of the keys, for this world and the world to come for He is establishing His kingdom and will be the king who shall come to rule over all the world for all eternity.

2.8.2.4.He opens and no one will shut.

2.8.2.4.1.Jesus can open a door of effective service for a church, and the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against that church, it will bear the fruit that God desires for it to bear.

2.8.2.5.He shuts and no one opens.

2.8.2.5.1.Jesus can also close the door to effective service for a church, and no matter what anyone may try to do, God’s hand shall be against that church.

2.9. The church in Philadelphia is believed to be symbolic of the period in the history of the church from about 1730 until 1900 or so.

2.9.1. This period has seen the resurgence of the missionary spirit within the church which has given it new life, and some have remarked that another thing that has sparked this resurgence of life in the church has been the teaching of the imminent return of Christ, and the subsequent call to Christians to be ready at all times for His return. Tony Cauchi, pastor of King's Church, Bishop's Waltham, Hants, UK, on his web page, http://www.revival-library.org/catalogues/history/cauchi/index.html#world1 has the following descriptions of the world-wide revivals that occurred during this period of time in church history from 1730 - 1900:

2.9.1.1.The First Great Awakening of 1727 onwards:

“Commonly called "The Great Awakening" this was certainly not the greatest revival in numerical growth or geographical scope. Nevertheless, it well deserves the title because it was the first discernible occasion that God's Spirit was outpoured simultaneously across different nations.

Historically, the beginning of this awakening can be traced to the Moravian community called "Herrnhut" (the Lord's watch), where a visitation from God was experienced after a period of prayer, repentance and reconciliation in 1727. Nikolas Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, a German, was the leader of the movement that began a 24 hour-a-day prayer meeting, which lasted the next 100 years. In the next 65 years that small community sent out 300 radical missionaries. Their revived German Pietism was destined to influence two other harvest fields, which were on God's agenda for that time - England and America.

Griffith Jones, a young Anglican clergyman, often called the 'morning star of the revival,' was making a mark in Britain through his revival preaching for at least 10 years before Theodore Frelinghuysen, a Dutch reformed Pietist, began to see remarkable conversions in America. He preached in 1727 with revival signs following his ministry in New Jersey. The revival spread to the Scottish-Irish Presbyterians under the ministry of Gilbert Tennant, whose father, William, founded the famous "Log College", which later became the Princeton University. Revival then spread to the Baptists of Pennsylvania and Virginia before the extraordinary awakening that occurred on Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of Jonathan Edwards in 1734. Edward's personal experience of revivals and his sharp mind, enabled him to produce a number of revival theologies and pastoral observations which have yet to be surpassed in their wisdom and insight. Thereafter, the revival spread to England and was further advanced in America by a visit of George Whitefield in 1739.

The effects of the revival were phenomenal. Statistics are hard to find, but we know that 150 new Congregational churches began in a 20-year period and 30,000 were added to the church between 1740 and 1742, probably doubling its size. Moral results were equably noticeable. Nine university colleges were established in the colonies. The wild frontier society was thoroughly Christianised. Early missionary desire began to emerge, most notably in the ministry of David Brainerd among the Indians. His journals are essential reading for all those seeking revival.

Back in Britain a massive movement of revival had began and was bound up with the ministries of two young men, George Whitefield and John Wesley. Both had been members of the Holy Club in Oxford while they were students. Wesley went off, still unconverted, to America to preach to the Indians in 1736, returning in 1738. The only benefit of this venture was his contact with the Moravians, who he could not understand, but for whom he had a great respect. On Wesley's return, Whitefield had been converted and was already preaching with great effect. For 34 years he exercised a most amazing preaching ministry, with revival signs often following him. His eloquence was commanding and convincing, full of vivid pictures and graphic expressions. "His hearers were taken by surprise and carried by storm" (J C Ryle).

The height of Whitefield's ministry was at the famed Cambuslang Awakening in 1742, when 20,000 and 30,000 people gathered to hear him preach, followed by mass weeping and repentance one and a half hours.

During Whitefield's ministry he preached in almost every town of England, Scotland and Wales, crossing the Atlantic seven times; winning countless souls in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. He publicly preached an estimated 18,000 power-packed messages, although none of his 75 recorded sermons do justice to his style and delivery.

Whitefield's friend, John Wesley, must go down in history as the architect of the 18^th century evangelical revival. Converted in 1738, at the well-known Aldersgate Street prayer meeting, he proceeded to preach whenever the opportunity afforded itself, usually in church. Then, in 1739, at Whitefield's request, he preached in the open air at Bristol and followed Whitefield in his preaching places. There began those unusual manifestations which periodically attended his and Whitefield's ministry; falling, crying out, fainting, shrieking, convulsions etc.

Wesley wisely began small societies designed for mutual encouragement and support. These became forerunners of the class-meetings and then of the Methodist Church. They were surely used to conserve the fruits of his revivalistic work. Wesley was an itinerant preacher for 65 years. He travelled an estimated 250,000 miles on horseback to preach 40,000 sermons! He wrote 233 books, including his voluminous journals and a complete commentary on the whole bible. He left behind him 750 preachers in England, 350 in America; 76,968 Methodists in England and 57,621 in America. With Charles, his brother, he penned 9,000 hymns. Wesley's influence has far outrun his long life. His practices and theology has affected Holiness, Revivalist, Pentecostal and Charismatic groups right down to the present day.

Clearly, then this Awakening was truly 'Great' and had notable affect on the majority of countries where Evangelical Christians could be found. It affected the existing church, saw thousands converted and impacted social conditions. Historians usually refer to 1766, the year of the American revolution, as the year by which the revival had spent itself and had began to decline.”

2.9.1.2.The Second Great Awakening of 1792 Onwards:

“This little-known 'Great Awakening' lasted about 30 years and its immediate effects were extraordinarily widespread. It also gave a remarkable impetus to world missions.

This awakening began as a prayer-movement in 1784, when John Erskine of Edinburgh re-published Jonathan Edward's earnest plea for revival prayer. It was entitled, 'An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God's People in Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom". Denomination after denomination devoted a monthly Monday evening to prayer, first in Britain, then in the US.

The barriers were great. There was moral decline following the war of independence in America. The French Revolution, infidelity and rationalism in Europe and dwindling congregations everywhere. The beginning of the revival can be traced to the industrial towns of Yorkshire in late 1791, spreading through all areas and denominations. The Methodists alone grew from around 72,000 at Wesleys death in 1791 to almost a quarter of a million within a generation.

At the same time, the churches in Wales became packed again and thousands gathered in the open air. The Haldanes (Robert and James) and Thomas Chalmers, with a few others, saw phenomenal awakenings in Scotland. Ireland too, saw local awakenings, especially among the Methodists.

A remarkable result of these UK revivals was the founding the British and Foreign Bible Society, The Religious Tract Society, The Baptist Missionary Society, The London Missionary Society, The Church Missionary Society and a host of other evangelistic agencies. It also achieved considerable social reform; evangelical Anglicans successfully fought for the abolition of the slave trade, prisons were reformed, Sunday Schools began and a number of benevolent institutions were commenced.

In the rest of the world similar movements arose. Around 1800 Scandinavia was impacted and in Switzerland a visit of Robert Haldane sparked off revivals among the Reformed churches. Germany experienced revival and achieved lasting social reforms and missionary fervour.

In the US the concept of prayer was very widespread from 1794 and by 1798 the awakening had broken out everywhere. Every state and every evangelical denomination was affected. Timothy Dwight, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, took over Yale College in 1795 and saw over half the students converted in just one year. Other colleges enjoyed similar movements of the Spirit.

Orr reports that there were no emotional extravagances in the east coast revivals. This was far from the case in other areas. Francis Asbury was sent from England, with and other Methodist circuit-riding preachers, to preach in the Frontiers. James McGready and Barton Stone witnessed an astounding revival at Kentucky in 1800, with much trembling, shaking, tears, shouting and fainting. In 1801 Barton Stone was invited to minister at the Cambridge meeting house in Bourbon County. A second visit attracted 20,000 people to a 6-day camp-meeting, which witnessed astounding revival scenes, with hundreds falling at once, with shrieks and shouts and many conversions.

The Frontier camp meetings were often sabotaged by drunks and mockers, many of whom repented and turned to God. All denominations were blessed by this revival. An utterly lawless community was transformed into a God-fearing one. The American Bible Society, American Tract Society, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission and innumerable other societies were founded at this time.

The revival of 1792 onwards lasted around 30 years until around the early 1820's, but was soon followed by the 1830's revival, which lasted about 12 years before a decade of decline.”

2.9.1.3.The Third Great Awakening of 1830 onwards:

“Fast on the heels of the Second Great Awakening, the third wave of heavenly power crashed on the shores of the evangelical world, this time without the usual decline. Asahel Nettleton and Charles Finney are names which dominate the American scene, while another American, James Caughey was the most notable revival evangelist active in England.

Finney's well documented ministry began in 1830 and netted 100,000 souls within one year! The Methodist Episcopal church steadily increased in the 1830's, especially through camp-meetings. But their numbers doubled in 1840-1842. Other denominations flourished too.

The greatest effect of this revival was felt far beyond the boarders of North America and for centuries to come. Finney's philosophy of revival, expressed in his autobiography and explained in his "Revivals of Religion", has subsequently affected thousands of Christians and precipitated revivals around the world.

In the UK revivals were widespread throughout the 1830's. Evangelists like Robert Aitkin and William Haslam held highly successful missions. Brethrenism began during this period, restoring the doctrine of the church and the doctrine of the return of Christ. Its noticeable personalities were J. N. Darby and George Müller who pioneered orphanage work, evangelism and missionary enterprise. Another restoration movement was led by Edward Irving, who strongly believed in the restoration of spiritual gifts and apostolic ministries to the church.

John Elias, Christmas Evans and William Williams stormed Wales with their powerful preaching. Scotland also boasted some great revivalists like John and Horatius Bonar, the revival veteran, Thomas Chalmers, Robert Murray McCheyne, W. H. Burns and his son, William Chalmers Burns.

On the wider international front, there were local revivals in various parts of the world, particularly in Scandinavia, central Europe, South Africa, the Pacific Islands, India, Malabar, and Ceylon.

This awakening, which began in 1830 only lasted about 12 years ending around 1842. It should be noted that this revival period is often seen as one with the former period. There were a constant stream of spasmodic revivals from 1800-1820 which petered out through the next few years and then exploded from about 1830 onwards.

Some of the evangelists, like Asahel Nettleton, played a major role in both periods and some scholars, particularly Orr, refer to this revival time as a 'resurgence.' Nevertheless, because of the 'new measures' and anti-Calvinistic Arminianism of Charles Finney and the astounding influence of this man's ministry it should be seen as quite a separate event.”

2.9.1.4.The Fourth Great Awakening of 1857 Onwards

“This Great Awakening (often called the 3^rd) was the greatest to date in its extent, effects and lasting impact. It began slowly in Canada, when 21 were saved, and grew steadily until between 25 and forty were converted each day. Slowly reports of small awakenings began to emerge from various states in America. Then, in September 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier, a businessman and convert of Finney's (a decade before), began a noon day prayer meeting on Wednesdays in a New York church. The small but growing numbers decided to meet daily in early October. Within six months over 10,000 business men were meeting in similar meetings across America; confessing sins, being converted and praying for revival. It was a lay-led movement that harvested a million souls in two years. In 1858, from February to June, around 50,000 people a week were added to the church - in a nation whose population was only 30,000,000.

Across the Atlantic another million were won to Christ by 1865. This was in Britain's population of 27,000,000. Ulster saw 100,000 converted, Scotland 30,000, Wales 100,000 and England 500,000.

Evangelistic, missionary and philanthropic enterprises blossomed on every hand. Moody and Sankey enjoyed their greatest success. William and Catherine Booth, converted under the ministry of James Caughey, launched the Salvation Army and attracted great crowds to Christ. Walter and Phoebe Palmer, the American evangelists, saw a remarkable work of the Spirit attend their ministry. Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached to capacity crowds each week, filling the largest halls in London. Hudson Taylor began the China Inland Mission. Gawin Kirkham started the Open Air Mission. Lord Shaftsbury championed for the cause of the young, the poor and the oppressed. Barnardo founded his famous orphanages. David Livingstone and Mary Slessor propagated missionary work in Africa. Such was the impact of this fourth great awakening.

The revival also swept around the world. Rapid growth was reported in continental Europe, western Russia, Australia, The South Seas, South Africa and India.”

2.9.1.5.The Fifth Great Awakening 1880 Onwards:

“It would be vary easy to review this period, 1880 to 1903, as a period of unusual evangelistic effort and success, as most its documentation surrounds the ministry of Dwight L. Moody, together with a host of other ministries that were also born out of the 1857 revival. Orr regards this period also as a 'resurgence.' Certainly the fourth great awakening had produced some highly motivated and anointed ministries, but looking at the world situation, something more than evangelistic success was afoot. It was quite distinct in its character and effects.

It initially centered around the ministry of D L Moody, whose ministry may be described as "highly successful crusade evangelism interspersed with periodic revivalism". Moody began his ministry in Chicago and entered full-time Christian work in 1860, concentrating on his Sunday school and YMCA work. He was God's chosen vessel to take the sparks of the 1857-60 revival to ignite a fresh passion for God and for souls around the world. Moody travelled, with his singing evangelist companion, Ira Sankey, to England a number of times. Spurgeon spoke of the visit of 1873-1875 as "a gracious visitation" and a "very notable ingathering of converts", especially at Newcastle and Edinburgh. Andrew Bonar, too, refers, in his diary to "the tide of real revival in Edinburgh" comparing it with his own experience of revival 35 years earlier. Similar results followed Moody and Sankey as they traversed England, Ireland and Scotland, filling the largest halls in the land.

Moody returned to England in 1881-83 and had an astounding affect on a new breed of evangelists in the U.S., Britain and across the world. His mission in Cambridge, in 1882, marked the beginning of a worldwide interdenominational student missionary movement. Though the YMCA in the States and Christian Unions in the U.K. had their inception during the former revival (1857), Moody's influence transformed these works into powerful missionary movements. The 'Cambridge Seven', including C. T. Studd, were products of Moody's visit and they went to on evangelize China in 1885. By 1912 Studd founded W.E.C., a missionary movement which had great success in parts of Africa. Wilfred Grenfell, the renowned missionary to Labrador was converted at a tent mission led by Moody in 1885.

Similar results occurred in the US. Thousands of young men volunteered for missionary work and the Anglo-American impetus spread around the world, producing the world's Student Christian Federation, which, in turn, provided a large proportion of the outstanding Christian leaders of the early 20^th Century.

Moody founded the Moody Bible Institute in 1883, with an emphasis on missions. The Christian and Missionary Alliance was formed during this time by A. B. Sampson and the Christian Endeavour Movement was born out of a revival in Portland, Maine, in 1880-1881.

Other evangelists, spurred on by Moody, threw themselves into the harvest. Sam Jones, J. Wilber Chapman and Billy Sunday had extraordinary success in North America. Andrew Murray exercised a powerful ministry in South Africa, as did John McNeil in Australia.

Revival hit Japan in the early 1880's, increasing the adult membership from 4,000 to 30,000 in five years. The China Inland Mission experienced a large influx of new missionaries. New missions were planted in many unevangelized fields and revivals were reported in India, Africa, South Africa, Madagascar, Australia, Central and South America.

We may well describe this resurgence "a missionary revival" which took the flame of the 1859 revival even further around the world, ensuring a strong church base in all nations – just in time for the great 20^th Century awakening.”

2.9.2. We in the church today need more than anything for the Lord to pour out His Spirit and another period of revival occur in our land so that multitudes will be won to Christ.

2.9.2.1.All of these times of revival occurred as a result of a bunch of Christians praying for the Lord to win the lost and work in a mighty way during our day.

2.9.2.2.We ought to be in prayer for the Lord to bring revival to our hearts, our church, our city, our nation, and our world.

2.9.3. We who are true believers in Christ today tend to want to relate to ourselves as being Philadelphians. We want to see ourselves as being like this church. In fact, this church symbolizes all faithful Christians and churches which are doing the things that the Lord wants them to be doing, and who have the Lord’s blessing upon the church.

2.10. We in the church need to realize that we need to look to the Lord to open doors for effective service for us, and we need to be patient until the Lord has opened these doors. Paul wrote about this experience concerning himself in Col. 4:3-4, “3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”

2.11. When God opens an effective door of ministry for us as Christians, we need to stay there and be faithful until He closes that door or opens another and tells us to walk through it. Thus, Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 16:8-9 that he didn’t want to leave the city of Ephesus because the Lord had opened an effective door of ministry for him, “8 But I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; 9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

3. VS 3:8 - “8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” - Jesus tells the Philadelphian church that He knows their deeds

3.1. Christ gives the church in Philadelphia a commendation for their deeds in saying, ‘I know your deeds’, however He does not mention what their good deeds consisted of.

3.2. As a result of their good ‘deeds’ though He says that He has put before them ‘an open door which no one can shut’. He promises then that His blessing shall be upon that church, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It shall bring forth good fruit unto the Lord.

3.3. Christ likewise says that the reason that they shall have this ‘open door’ of effective service is because they have ‘a little power’, they have ‘kept’ His Word, and they ‘have not denied’ His Name.

3.4. It is not a great amount of power which is important in the heavenly realm because the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 12:9 that power is perfected in weakness, “9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

3.5. The church who does not ‘keep’, i.e. study to know and obey His word, shall never have God’s blessing upon it. We cannot turn our ear to God’s Word and then expect Him to move in our midst. The more we try to align ourselves with His revealed Word, then the more He will bless the church.

3.6. Samuel wrote in 1 Sa. 2:30 an incentive to not denying Christ in that the Lord will honor those who honor Him, “30 “Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”

3.7. We Christians in the church ought always pray to the Lord to show us if there is anything in our life which is keeping Christ from granting to us an ‘open door’ of effective ministry. We ought to pray as David prayed, that the Lord would search our hearts and show us if there is anything we need to submit to Him, so that we can know where it is that we ought to repent, so that He then might be able to use us.

4. VS 3:9 - “9 ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you.” - Jesus tells the Philadelphian church that He will cause the false Jews to come and bow down at their feet

4.1. As with the church at Smyrna, Christ speaks to the church at Philadelphia about those who were Jews by physical descent as being the ‘synagogue of Satan’, and of these false Jews He says:

4.1.1. They are really not God’s people (they belong to Satan).

4.1.2. He ‘will make them to come and bow down’ at their feet.

4.1.3. They shall also ‘know’ that He has loved the Philadelphian church.

4.2. There are a couple of questions that are begging to be answered concerning these promises concerning the false Jews and the Philadelphian church, such as:

4.2.1. When and how this will Jesus fulfill these things pertaining to the false Jews and the Philadelphian church?

4.2.2. Will these things happen in this life, or in the one to come?

4.3. In answer to these questions, I can look concerning the life to come at what Jesus promised His apostles in Matt. 19:28 about how they would one day judge the twelve tribes of Israel, “28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” So, my best guess is that the promise of Jesus in this verse refers prophetically to the day of the Great White Throne of judgment of non-believers when Jews and non-Jews will be judged to eternal damnation by Christ and His disciples.

4.4. We Christians can take heart that one day we shall be the ones who shall be judging men as well as angels (1 Cor. 6:3), along with Christ. This fact also ought to be an incentive to us today to mature in faithfulness and fruitfulness for our Lord in preparation for that day.

5. VS 3:10 - “10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.” - Jesus promises the Philadelphian church that He will keep them from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world

5.1. Christ says to the church in Philadelphia that because they have persevered in their faith walking with Him, that He will keep them from this period that He refers to as ‘the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world’.

5.2. We of course must ask the question as to what period it is that Christ is referring to in this verse as, ‘the hour of testing’?

5.2.1. The first clue to answering this question comes from what Jesus says about the testing, it is to ‘come upon the whole world.’

5.2.1.1.What period of testing has come upon the ‘whole world’ in history past subsequent to John’s writing of this book?

5.2.1.1.1.The answer is that there has been no hour of testing that has come upon the whole world in history past since the time of the writing of this letter which can match up with what Christ refers to in this epistle to the church in Philadelphia.

5.2.1.1.2.There were hours of testing prior to Christ’s epistle to the church, such as the Great Flood or the Tower of Babel from Genesis, however no time in history past subsequent to the writing of the book has come upon the whole world.

5.2.1.1.3.Therefore, this ‘hour of testing’ which Christ is referring to must be in the future of us today. This ‘hour of testing that shall come upon the whole world’ can only refer to the period of the Great Tribulation which we will study in great depth later in the book of Revelation.

5.2.1.1.3.1.Interestingly, those to whom this letter was originally written have gone to be with the Lord, and in that sense they have already been spared having to go through the Great Tribulation.

5.2.1.1.3.2.However, this verse gives us who are walking faithfully in Christ today (those of us who are then Philadelphians) the promise that since these epistles are representative letters as well as epistles that are symbolic of periods in the history of the church, that we shall not have to go through the Great Tribulation.

5.2.1.1.3.3.I believe what Christ then promises us faithful ones who are alive today, is that we will be “raptured” before the time of the Great Tribulation.

5.2.1.1.3.4.Some have said that it could mean that we will be prevented from being harmed during the Great Tribulation, however that we will have to go through it. But, this can’t fit, for what we will see later in this book is that the ones who walk faithfully in Christ during the Great Tribulation, and subsequently do not take the Mark of the Beast upon themselves, that they will be martyred for their faith in Christ. So then, how could it be said of them that they would be kept from that ‘hour of testing’?

5.3. We see in the book of Revelation that the church is not mentioned again in the book after this chapter, and that in the next chapter that the church is taken up out of the earth into heaven, and that this is descriptive of the “Rapture” of the church up to Christ.

5.4. The period of the Great Tribulation is for the punishment of the nations, not for the discipline of the church. God never punishes His people along with the wicked.

5.4.1. In the Bible we see several instances of God removing the righteous before He judged the wicked, for instance:

5.4.1.1.In the Great Flood of Genesis God spared all those who were righteous on the earth in the ark.

5.4.1.2.In Genesis, the angels of God had to force righteous Lot out of the city of Sodom before the Lord could destroy the city.

5.4.1.3.When Joshua and the 12 tribes of Israel attacked and destroyed Jericho, they first had to rescue righteous Rahab and her family from the city.

5.4.2. God’s people are chastised by Him, and yes God’s people do have to suffer tribulation and persecution in this life for following Him, however when God goes about punishing the wicked, He first will remove His people.

5.5. There is an interesting and somewhat obscure verse in Isaiah 26:20-21 which I believe prophesies the event of the rapture of the church before God’s judgment of the earth, “20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms, And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while, Until indignation runs its course. 21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed, And will no longer cover her slain.”

5.6. Before Paul wrote his first letter to the church of the Thessalonians, they had been wrongfully told by someone that Christ had already returned, and they were very concerned about what that meant concerning their loved ones who had died as well as the implications to their faith in general, and so Paul wrote to them in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 about the promise of the rapture of Christ’s church, “13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

5.6.1. The words ‘caught up’ here are translated in the Latin Vulgate as “raptured”, and this is where the term “rapture” has come from.

6. VS 3:11 - “11 ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown.” - Jesus tells the Philadelphian church that He is coming quickly

6.1. Christ encourages the church by telling them that His return is imminent and therefore could occur at any second.

6.2. In relation to his soon return, Christ exhorts the church of Philadelphia to ‘hold fast’ what they have, which means that they are to walk obediently in the light which the Lord has given to them, doing the things that He has shown them to do.

6.3. Their works have already produced for them a ‘crown’, and His hope is that that they do nothing in order to lose the crown that they have been given.

6.4. We Christians would be wise to keep on walking with Christ and doing what the Lord’s given us to do, for it would be foolish to lose our reward after having worked so hard for it.

7. VS 3:12 - “12 ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” - Jesus promises blessings upon those who are overcomers

7.1. We the church are the house that the Lord is building, each one of us being a temple of the Holy Spirit. Christ promises to the one who is an overcomer for Him in this world, that He will make of him more than just a brick, but rather ‘a pillar’ in the ‘temple’ of God.

7.2. A pillar is central to the foundation of a building since it holds up walls and ceilings, and thus the overcomer will be part of the central foundation for the house that the Lord is building of His people.

7.3. Christ promises to the overcomer that three things will be written upon him:

7.3.1. The name of My God.

7.3.1.1.The name of the first person of the Trinity, the Father, will be written upon the overcomer as a mark of special identification by Christ.

7.3.2. The name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem.

7.3.2.1.The name of the New Jerusalem itself will be written upon the overcomer as a mark of special identification by Christ.

7.3.3. His new name.

7.3.3.1.Christ Himself is to be given a new Name, and that Name will be written upon everyone who is an overcomer (every genuine Christian).

7.4. I think that we Christians ought to think about the special privilege which we will have given to us by the Lord if we hold fast in our faith and walk with Christ. We will be foundational in the house that He is building, no matter how insignificant our life may seem to be here and now, and He will place His special identification marks upon us which will forever identify us with Him as our God and Father.

8. VS 3:13 - “13 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.‘” - Jesus tells us to take heed to what the Spirit is saying to the churches

8.1. Again, every Christian has an ear, therefore every Christian needs to pay attention to what Christ is saying to each of these representative churches.

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