Philadelphia
Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he
that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth,
and no man openeth;
What a marvelous name for the Savior of Philadelphia. He is the Holy and True. He has the key of David. In 2 Samuel 7:1-16, God promises David that
someone from his line will sit upon the throne of Israel for all time. This promise appeared to be broken when the
Romans stopped the Jews from punishing their own criminals. In the United States we grow ever weaker as
we deny the fundamentals of the faith that made this nation great. One of those fundamentals was the right to
put murderers to death as God has insisted we do.
When Rome denied Israel that same right the chief priests
rent their clothes in horror because it appeared that the Word of God had been
broken. Scripture said that there would
never fail to be a son of David on the throne until the Messiah came (Genesis
49:10). The right to punish criminals is
considered to be a central right of all nations. When people attack this right they fail to
realize that they are actually weakening the nation (Numbers 35:30-33). Scripture says that sin, especially
unpunished sin, is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). What they did not realize is that in a small
village in Judea a baby had been born to the line of David. While this child would die, unlike all other
kings He would rise again on the third day and would one day sit on David’s
throne.
Prior to all this throne business we see two attributes of
God that clash with the publically paraded reasonableness (weakness) of
man. First, God is HOLY. The Greek word is hagios. It means that God,
Jesus, is morally and actually pure and blameless. The Word of God has created all things and
that Word is perfect and pure and righteous; in other words, holy. God is Holy and will tolerate no sin in His
heaven or His people. The closer we can
possibly come to His sinlessness the better off we are. Those who seek to live as unrighteously as
possible in order to enjoy the grace of God are fools (Romans 5:19-6:16). As God says, “Be ye holy as I the Lord thy God am holy (Leviticus 11:44, 45, 19:2,
20:7, 26).” We are supposed to do our absolute
best.
In John 18:37-38 Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king. Jesus said that to that end he came, to bear
witness of the truth. Pilot’s answer is
one that has echoed throughout the history of mankind, “What is truth?” What is
truth indeed? The Word of God is truth
and true. Scientifically it has been
proven time and time again and has forced many brilliant men and women to
change their theories. Our Lord has said
that he does not lie (Hebrews 6:18, Psalm 89:34-37). God’s promises are true and will all come to
pass to the last and least mark upon a Hebrew Aleph-Beit in the Torah.
Revelation 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an
open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast
kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
In John 8:31 Jesus begins to win some Jews over. They begin to believe in Him and then things
go badly and he winds up telling them their father is the devil. In verse 41 they call him a bastard child of
fornication since Mary and Joseph were not married when He was conceived. He tells them their father is the devil and
that God is His true Father. In verse
43-44 he says they can’t understand Him because they are of their father the
devil and they are led and ruled by the lusts of their father who was a
murderer from the beginning. He calls
Satan the father of lies.
This is not some pleasant religious exchange. This is a no holds barred insult exchange
where these men who were beginning to believe suddenly go the other direction
after His accusations. In verse 48 they
call him one of the hated Samaritans and say He is possessed by the devil. By verse 59 they have called him demon possessed
twice and he has declared himself to be the voice in the burning
bush. It was at this moment that they
tried to stone Him. Whenever you see the
Jews try to kill Him you know He has made an important point; in this case that
He is the great I AM (Exodus 3:14).
Does it appear to you in this exchange that Jesus just threw
away the budding relationship? Have you
ever been in a church or around Christians when they have told you something
that was scriptural but really irritated you?
Welcome to life in Christ. Jesus
said, “You will know the truth and the TRUTH will MAKE you free. Truth is violent and has terrible power. It can wound and heal, destroy and
repair. Jesus is the son of God. We are His literal and figurative body. Do you believe that He wants weak and
cowardly saints making up His body? He
will challenge you and shake you up many times in life. That door mentioned above will remain open as
long as you stay in the game and continue to press ahead in Him.
It is important to note that after he miraculously walked
through their midst and passed by that he saw a man blind from birth and healed
him…on the Sabbath day. Needless to say
the Jews were not happy about doing miracles on the Sabbath day (John
9:15-16). They were so incensed that He
appeared to miraculously heal the man that they even interrogated his
parents. Finding nothing to accuse the
man about they called him a sinner and put the man out of the Synagogue for
having the nerve to be healed on the Sabbath day! Welcome to religion that has become
traditional and died.
You might wonder why I went through all this. The reason is that three things happened on
this particular Sabbath day. Jesus
identified who was a disciple and who was not by demanding and sticking to the
truth of who He was. He brought those
who came to a clear decision for or against Him, in one case pushing several
seekers away. The second was that He
showed Himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath.
Finally, he sought the man cast out (since he could no longer worship in
the temple) and redirected the man’s worship to Himself (John 9:35-38). After this and as a parting shot he called
the Jews who had argued with him sinners and went on. The next chapter explained what the proper
door is.
In Revelation 3:8 he describes the door that HE has opened
(or soon will) by His sacrifice. After
this He left the divided Jews behind and went away. Remember something here, these are not cute
stories about our Lord. These are
passionate and sometimes violent exchanges over the hearts and minds of
men. In Matthew 11:12 it says, “Since
the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent take it by force. Our
life in Christ will often be filled with violent disagreement and we may be
threatened. Are you ready for this
assault or will you flee in fear. Jesus
said the Philadelphians had a little strength.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,
which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to
come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Don’t be so excited about the word synagogue here. Synagogue simply means a fellowship,
assembly, church, ecclesia or tabernacle.
The synagogue of Satan may well include your supposed Christian brothers
or sisters. Our persecution can come
from Islam, Christianity or nonbelievers.
Who it comes from is a question.
That it will come is a certainty.
Nonetheless, one day, after all is said and done and we stand tall with
Christ our head in His proper place, these who have attacked, wounded and in
some cases even killed us will worship the very God we are supporting. They will worship at our feet and on that day
know that we were right and they were not.
On that day they will know that He loved us…and they missed it.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also
will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
It is hard to serve Christ, not just because of Satan’s
attacks but because we are attacked from within by those who refuse to
surrender fully to Christ and because we are assaulted within our own selves as
Paul said in Romans 7. Our race with
destiny is not given to the swift nor our battle to the one who is most strong,
but to the one who endures to the very end (Matthew 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13);
to the one who has kept the word of Christ’s patience. The Greek word for patience is hypomone which
means patient continuance. That means
that in spite of attacks, in spite of disappointments in this life, in spite of
your closest friends speaking against your faith in Christ (Micah 7:5-7), you
maintain it…and in the midst of it all your Savior will keep you from the
greatest of these temptations to quit and you will ultimately pass your trials.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown.
Your responsibility is not to be a great hero, God is the
hero. Your responsibility is not to be
the smartest or most capable. Jesus is
your head and has given you the gifts you need to meet His goals. Your responsibility is to use your gifts in
the manner He sees fit and honor your Lord and King. You wear a king’s crown with your title upon
it. Hold fast to it. Don’t allow anyone to take your crown or do
your job. It would be a pity to see
someone steal your crown because you let it fall from your head. Your crown is a symbol of your duty, your
responsibility and your call. If you
lose it then verse 12 will never happen for you.
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of
my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which
cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
A pillar can hold tremendous loads without difficulty as
long as certain conditions are met. The
most important of all is that it must be perfectly straight. A bent or twisted pillar is of no use as it
will snap under load. It must be placed
perfectly under the burden it is to carry.
If it does not stand exactly upright the load may cause it to shift to
the side and collapse. The pillar must
rest upon a firm surface like solid rock.
A soft surface like sand can cause it to sink and shift, again causing a
collapse (Matthew 7:26). The pillar must
be protected against vermin like termites or rust or dry rot. Some pillars can look as strong as the day
they were installed and yet break without warning during a trial after years of
faithful service.
Our walk with Christ must be straight, upright and we must
stand upon the solid rock that is our Savior.
Our doctrine and dedication to our duty and responsibility must be
without any chink in our armor. Many
seemingly strong and dedicated saints have simply collapsed one day after a
particularly difficult storm in their lives.
In verse 10 Jesus has promised to keep us straight, strong and
doctrinally pure. He will watch us through
His Word as long as we do not take liberties with it and seek to change it. If our doctrine remains pure then no vermin,
either spiritual or natural, will cause our will to crumble. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:13, “…take on the whole armor of God, that ye may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
A pillar is the strength of the building and in this case
the strength of His sanctuary. You will
bear the weight of the name of God, the name of the city of God, the New
Jerusalem, and the new name that Jesus Himself will give us, and be like the pillars
Boaz (In Him Is Strength) and Jachin (He Shall Establish) before Solomon’s
temple. What name will the Lord write
upon you on that day? Will you be ready?
Revelation 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
And having done all to stand…stand therefore (Ephesians
6:14).
Laodiceans
Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God;
Notice Jesus’ title here.
He is the Amen, the Faithful and True witness. He is also the beginning of the creation of
God. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the
beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.” John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Over the years men have impugned the Word of
God and said it is not worthy to be trusted or depended upon. God said, “My
Word will not fail. I will perform it
and bring it to pass (Ezekiel 12:22-25, Jeremiah 1:11-12.) God promised Joseph many wonderful things and
in anger his brothers sold him into slavery.
His Word couldn’t come to pass, could it? Psalm 105:17-22 says that God watched His
Word to perform it and in the end, Joseph ruled all of Egypt under
Pharaoh.
The other day a man told me, “I believe God, it’s the
written word I don’t believe because it was written by men.” He said he believed in Jesus and loved Jesus
but not man. I had no chance to tell him
that if the New Testament as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter,
Jude, James and that unknown writer “wink wink” of Hebrews are all
untrustworthy and the God who gave them the words to write was untrustworthy
then he couldn’t have been a Christian.
If the Torah and Ketuvim and Nevuiim which were also written by mere flawed
men was untrustworthy and God was unable to control what and how those men
wrote and which books or writings made it through the ages then we wouldn’t
have Christianity or Judaism and his belief system would be based on a fairy
tale.
These beliefs were not made up as man tried to understand
his world and universe and wrote down his questions and ideas. They came into being because God wrested
their attention by miracles that we could not understand today even if all our
sciences got involved (and were truthful).
We consider them to be stupid and ignorant savages when they may have
been smarter overall than we though not as technological. They certainly used more of their brains than
we do these days. God directed His
scriptures to be written and made sure that they used only the words He wished
and the letters and vowels he wished. They
wrote with a language whose letters had numerical and actual meanings and those
meanings had to line up with the plain text.
He did this in both the Hebrew writings and Greek writings. His fingerprint and prophetic words abound
throughout both testaments and anyone not totally blinded by Satan will see the
truth of them if they but look.
His Word is perfect and entire, to which statement Jesus
says, “Amen.” God’s Word is faithful and
will always come to pass. To this our
Lord says, “I am faithful to perform it.”
God’s Word is never false as it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews
6:18) and to this Jesus says, “Truth.” Jesus
is the faithful and true WITNESS. His
words in red in most Bibles are a witness of the truth. The entire book of Revelation is His
witness. He is the beginning of all
creation and will also finish it. It is
His desire to complete this work in all His children but it goes against all the
false science and low wisdom that man might believe. He is trying to establish with the Laodiceans
that this is a time of wonder and amazement.
They should be on fire for more of God’s grace. Verse 15 says differently.
Revelation 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:
I would thou wert cold or hot.
There is one great truth in the universe today. There must be differences to accomplish
work. The hammer is violent and hard but
the nail does not respect a slipper.
Only a hammer can pound it in. A
flame is hot and will burn anything if hot enough, even steel, but the softness
of water can extinguish it and thereby become lukewarm. The scientific term is called heat
death. Chemical reactions happen because
of a temperature differential between one body and another. If our sun was the same temperature as the
earth then no reactions would be possible.
Even something that has intense cold carries seething untapped power as
long as it does not become lukewarm. It
is called zero point energy for absolute cold.
What God is trying to tell the Laodiceans is that they
simply do not care about kingdom work.
It is quite boring to them and they have no spiritual discernment. They are neither against it (which He could
use) nor for it (which He could also use).
They just don’t care. Jesus
rejoices in finding a passionate sinner.
Many who came to Him while He abode with us on earth were won to Him by
His power and persuasion. They were
passionately against Him and when they ran into the truth it converted
them. They were then passionately pro
Jesus. Such was the Apostle Paul.
Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
You can drink hot water and it is like weak tea. You can drink cold water and it is
refreshing. Lukewarm water will make you
vomit. It appears to affect your gag
reflex. Jesus says, “If you hated me and
I can win your respect and love through my word then we both win. If you loved me and we traveled together in
power and grace then we both win. If you
are lukewarm, neither hot or cold and there is no passion in your life then
there is no hope either. To call
yourself a Christian and live lukewarm before Christ is to be in danger of
making your Savior sick to His stomach.
Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
There are several stories about people who found themselves
rich beyond their ability to spend and Jesus looked upon them as fools (Luke
12:16-21) who failed to store up treasure in heaven (Matthew 19:16-22, Luke
18:18-25). Consider that God looks upon
the wealthy as someone who does not feel any need to trust Him. If they get sick they get the best doctors;
hungry, they buy food. In their wealth
they will never lack for friends. The
problem is that God is not willing to trust us unless we have been tested and
tried…in the fire.
In the verse above he says they are wretched (afflicted by
sorrows), miserable (one to be pitied), poor (homeless and begging on the
street), blind (clouded like cataracts, blind spiritually, mentally and
physically), and naked (not wearing the required clothing, not holy).
Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and
that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye
salve, that thou mayest see.
In 3 John we read that John asked the church to support
those evangelists who went out to preach to the gentiles. Some pastors refused to acknowledge the
beloved disciple’s advice. Now we have
something just a bit more serious; the Savior of all mankind counseling us to
buy of Him gold tried in the fire. Jesus
wants us to come out as pure gold. We
are the gold and only He can purify us and prepare us to be acceptable in His
sight (Zechariah 13:9, 1 Peter 1:3-9). How hard is it for the rich to walk in a way
that requires faith? So many others must
believe for their daily bread.
We also are to be holy and wear perfect raiment. You cannot walk holy when you make allowances
to pamper your flesh and every desire.
He says in verse 3:5 that if we overcome we will be clothed in white
raiment and will not have our names blotted out of the Lambs book of life. Matthew
22:1 is about the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Only the noble were invited to the marriage but many began to make
excuses that they could not attend. Some
not only refused to come but murdered the king’s servants. He was furious and sent in His army and
destroyed them. That parable shows the
end of the Jews who refused to accept the sacrifice of Jesus.
Beginning in verse nine the king sent his servants out into
the highways and hedges to bring guests to the wedding of his son. Many came and as they arrived they were given
garments to wear because they were too poor to provide their own. As the king walked through and visited his
guests prior to the wedding he saw one man not wearing the provided garments of
holiness and light. Apparently he felt
that he could wear whatever he wanted in the king’s presence while attending
the son’s wedding. In Matthew 22:12 he
asked the man, “My friend, how is it that you do not have on your wedding
garments? Scripture continues to say
that the man was speechless. He had
nothing to say for himself.
In verse 13 the king orders his servants to bind the man
hand and foot and toss him into outer darkness where there is weeping and
gnashing of teeth. You might say, “This
is unfair. The man may not have known what was expected.” The truth is that all were told (Revelation
3:5, 13). These letters are written to
us who believe. Their warnings are for
us and their message is very clear.
Christ’s final reminder was to anoint their eyes with eyesalve so they
might see. The Laodiceans produced a
mineral mixture called “Phrygian powder” which was mixed and applied to the
eyes. It was thought to heal weak
eyes. Jesus used His understanding of
this to let them know their spiritual blindness needed to be healed.
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous
therefore, and repent.
Remember, this church is a wealthy, spiritually weak
church. They were circling the drain and
about to die. Christ let them know that
there was still hope if they listened.
He told them that He only rebuked and chastened those He loved. Nevertheless, his warning was dire. They had to repent quickly. If ever there was a time to be zealous it was
now. I am reminded of the book of
Jonah. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to
preach the coming destruction. Jonah
hated the Ninevites and wanted them to be destroyed. After being swallowed by a giant fish and
arriving on shore half dead he began to preach the warning. He didn’t beg or even word it politely. His basic message was, “Forty days and you
get yours!”
The point is, Jonah with his fish bleached skin and weeds
about his head scared the Ninevites to death.
From the king in the palace to the donkey in the manger they all wore
sackcloth and bowed before the Lord.
They all fasted before God down to the smallest animal in the barn and
God did not destroy them. This is the
warning God is giving to the Laodiceans and it is up to them to heed it.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me.
We quote this scripture all the time and yet it speaks of our
Lord standing at the door of a Christian’s heart seeking entrance. He’s not speaking to pagans or even Jews
here; He is talking to those in the Laodicean church. He wants more than lip service and scripture
quoting. Jesus wants your heart. If you are not willing to open it up and
invite Him in then you will never survive Satan’s attacks. He’s knocking and waiting. Can you hear Him? Will you open the door to your heart or are
you still one of those who thinks it doesn’t take all that. He wants to come into you and sup with you
and you with Him. Won’t you ask Him in?
Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne.
Bear this in mind; prior to his birth, Jesus
had eternal power and was forced to lay it aside in order to be tempted as we
are. Because of this He is able to know
how hard it is for the rich to make it into heaven. It was harder for Jesus because He could have
called for help at any time. The wealthy
and powerful can seek help at all times.
They don’t lack funds to do whatever they want. If they never grow, they won’t have learned
to let Christ perfect them in trials and faith.
To receive what they are promised by Jesus they must learn to trust
Him. This is extremely difficult for
them but if they do it is their lot to sit beside Jesus on His throne.
We are the body of Christ. Some of us are pillars, standing tall and
strong with little approval or desire for greater things. Others will sit side by side with Jesus upon
the throne. What is your calling ‘on the
other side?’ What is it that you will
accomplish. One thing is certain,
whatever your gift, you will fit that position like it was made for you or
rather that you were made for it. If we
suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12).
Revelation 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
Perhaps some of us need hearing aids. Let them ask of Jesus who gives to all men
liberally.
Blessings beloved,
Bishop J
No comments:
Post a Comment