If you feel, "I never can give up the Bible; I never can forsake the truths that I have learnt from it: they are stamped on my heart, they are cut into the very centre of my soul," then you are the man who may safely go forth to publish the truth. God has promised all Christians deliverance from that outpouring of His wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Nothing is more common among Protestants, than to admit a thing to be perfectly true because it is in the word of God, without the smallest intention or thought of acting upon it. Philadelphia, City Of Praise ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). Revelation 2:10 c, 25; Revelation 3:4). In vain does Satan seek to cast down those who resting on Christ's love have Him as the loved object of their life and soul. Satan revives the old Judaizing spirit, at the very time that God re-asserts the true principle of Christian brotherhood, and, above all, makes Christ Himself to be all to His people. The brethren needed all their strength concentrated on their home work, for they were few, and the miss of one or two from home evangelization and edification would be greatly felt. I. Observe, (1.) He forbade any Sardian to possess a weapon of war. At any rate, the great Head of the church did not think it unwise to say to the church at Philadelphia that he thought well of it because it had kept his word. Where was the labour of love? No commandment appears more frequently in the New Testament than that to watch. If a man accepts the invitations of sin for long enough, the time comes when he cannot accept anything else. "Who calleth herself a prophetess, and teachest and seducest my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols." We are soon going to be entering into the Lent season which was borrowed from the Babylonian system. And the way to "maintain the spiritual glow" ( Romans 12:11, Moffatt) is to live close to Christ. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Jesus alone has authority to admit to the new Jerusalem, the new city of David. If all that a man has to meet life with is wealth, he is poor indeed. In 62 B.C. So, because you are tepid and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. The Spirit says, "Thou hast a little strength." ", But there is more of Philadelphia's history than that in this letter. 6:10). Jesus declares Himself to be all this; yea, more than this "the living one, and I became dead." Tzamalikos, P. Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CBO9781139208758, pages 120-120, 2013. . [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. Now if there be in the state of Protestantism one thing more marked than another, it is that they always fall back on the world to deliver themselves from the power of the priest or the church. It is now Christ Himself, and this as One that faith discovers in new beauty, not dependent merely on visions of glory which had been seen before, but Christ as He really is in Himself "He that is holy, he that is true." The history of Sardis had its vivid examples of what happens to the garrison whose watch is slack. ", Come you, then, and search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Christ and let it not be said that you will not come unto him that you might have life. If you have been vacillating and shifty and tricky, and have believed everything and nothing, nobody will take any particular notice of what you say, except it be to shut the door against your uncertain prattle. I know your works. There will be that day that will come that the Jews will recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. (v) On the faithful Christian Christ will write his own new name. Thus we have had the general condition falling into decline; we have had the early persecution from the heathen; we have had the power of the world patronizing the church; and we have had finally Romanism, which alone (from the allusion to Christ's coming) is supposed to go on to the end. Three centuries before, Philadelphia had been given an open door to spread Greek ideas in the lands beyond; and now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity, to carry to men who never knew it the message of the love of Jesus Christ. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience - My word commanding or enjoining patience; that is, thou hast manifested the patience which I require. I should like to see a few more of such Protestants. Revelation 3:10 by Grant Richison| Nov 17, 1998| Revelation| 43 comments Read Introduction to Revelation "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." Jesus now turns to a promise for those who persevereunder trial. What is still more in John the significant point, they lost all the truth of a real life given to us in Christ. (c) It is just possible that we have an Old Testament picture. The man who is faithful to his pledge will, beyond a doubt, some day hear God say: "Well done!". The Protestant Reformation in Europe is dead. It is not merely that He died this is not what He says here, though it is said elsewhere, and very truly. If you have kept God's word you may be wielding an influence far beyond what you imagine. "As many as I love, I rebuke." Until less than a hundred years ago great markets were regularly held on its site. Here is a promise of the great favour God would bestow on this church, Revelation 3:9; Revelation 3:10. And I will kill her children with death." Obedience, fidelity, and a free confession of the name of Christ, are the fruits of true grace, and are pleasing to Christ as such. Daniel is clothed in purple by Belshazzar ( Daniel 5:29). It is the present imperative and means: "Keep on remembering; never allow yourself to forget." We need pillars in the house of our God. It is a serious thing where and how we dwell. They have now a compact character, and can be spoken of as a synagogue. Many a time men act as if the Church belonged to them, but it belongs to Jesus Christ and all in it are his servants. But, Christ points out, the small group of Christians who form the church of Philadelphia are the true people of God in that city. The man who refuses to open is "blindly at strife with his own blessedness." Peter warns his people that they will give account for their deeds to him who comes to judge the living and the dead ( 1 Peter 4:5). He asks the Colossians to pray that a door of utterance may be opened for him ( Colossians 4:3). There was faithfulness, and this very particularly in dealing with the wickedness which Satan sought to bring in at that time. Because you say, I am rich and I have acquired riches, and I need nothing, and are quite unaware that it is you who are the wretched and the pitiable one, the poor and the blind and the naked one, I advise you to buy from me gold that has been refined by fire that you may be rich, white raiment that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be openly displayed, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Help us purchase electrical generators for churches. One of the highest rewards of patience in one trial is the grace that God gives us to bear another. This of course connects His present existence with the future as well as the past. In the time of Vespasian Philadelphia was in gratitude to change its name again to Flavia, for Flavius was the Emperor's family name. III. Thank God we have a little strength. John 12:27). A man comes, as Seneca had it, to hate his sins and to love them at the same rime. Sardis was a city of degeneration. They had shown this in the trials which they had experienced; he promises now, that in return he will keep them in the future trials that shall come upon the world. These were said to be the treasures of the church. It would seem that Archippus was somehow failing in his duty. The problem is that the words "because you have a little strength, and because you have kept my word, and have not denied my name," can go equally well with what precedes them or with what follows. "I am the door," said Jesus ( John 10:7; John 10:9). Philadelphia is one of seven churches addressed with its own letter in Revelation 2 & 3. Their approach is silent and unobserved, until a man finds himself without warning facing eternity. The seven Spirits therefore refer, as I believe, to the Holy Ghost acting in the way of government. You are a vessel fit for the Master's use, and there never was a vessel fit for his use that he did not use one day or other. . The truth is too great for us ever to absorb it all, but daily and hourly we live upon it. Sardis, Death In Life ( Revelation 3:1-6 Continued). (ii) Laodicea prided itself on its clothing trade. Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, in his kindness remitted all tribute for five years and gave a donation of 10,000,000 sesterces, that is, L400,000. I am inclined to think that the hour of trial embraces the whole Apocalyptic period; that is, not merely the awful time when Satan in a rage is expelled from on high, and when the beast, energised by him, rises to his full head of power, but the previous period of trouble, seduction, and judgment. In fact, the principal burden of the great prophecies about to be unveiled was that of strengthening and encouraging the church against that very event. Old Testament prophecy dispensational truth is introduced now. God has a task for every man; but it may be that the man proves himself unfit for the task and it is given to another. A straggling few may reckon themselves to be the majority when they stand alone with God, for HE counts for more than all the myriads of the earth put together. Believers on earth will meet the Lord in the air and thus escape the hour of trial . The persecutions in the Roman empire would furnish abundant occasions for such a trial. The Lord sent the letter to the church in Philadelphia to praise the Christians for their faithfulness in spite of persecution and to encourage them to persevere. May we tonight, O God, listen to what you would say to us. Laodicea prided itself on three things; and each is taken in turn and shown at its true value. It is manifest that all carries out the same solemn impression. Some would get a few copies of the New Testament, and go about and sell them in their baskets; and so they kept the truth. Here again we have a present imperative indicating continuous action. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.". For in Him was life: yea, He was that eternal life which was with the Father before the worlds were. (i) Sin is the death of the will. It became a Roman assize town. Yet Smyrna was poor and Philadelphia was small. It is His position both ministerial and ecclesiastical His relationship to the angels, or those that morally represented the assemblies to His eye, as well as to the churches themselves. It is this picture which is in John's mind. Why, there are great folk among us that never care to believe according to God's word at all. John 8:31-59). The Book of Life is a conception which occurs often in the Bible. [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. Then John describes himself in a manner adapted to the testimony he is called to render. (iii) As the Revised Standard Version has it, he is the beginning of God's creation. A church may have a very short muster-roll, and yet it may be very dear to God, who thinks more of quality than of quantity, more of obedience than of numbers. No wonder that Laodicea could boast that it was rich and had amassed wealth and had need of nothing. And here we have for our instruction the fact, that the synagogue of Satan of those who say they are Jews, and are not revives. Thus the Lord was no longer fighting in defence of His own people, nor was He employing the enemy's hatred and persecution to nip in the bud or prune evil excrescences. You know it is true that God is doing a wonderful work here and it is exciting to see what God is doing, but we have hardly touched the county. We know how many scholars have dared to insult the book in their folly, as I think we may say, with the justest rebuke of their offensive language. Christ calls the church to that duty which he before promised he would enable her to do, and that is, to persevere, to hold fast that which she had. 453-55. The Christian is under continual attack by the powers which seek to seduce him from his loyalty to Christ. Wish. There are so many more to be reached. Mark 14:35). There is alethes ( G227) , which means "true" in the sense that a true statement is different from a false statement. I will confess his name before the Father. It need not be supposed that the whole world literally was included in it, or even all the Roman empire, but what was the world to them - the region which they would embrace in that term. [Note: Chitwood, p. 101. "I am the Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord God, that is, and that was, and that is to come, the Almighty." (a) It denotes the Holy Spirit with his sevenfold gifts, an idea founded on the description of the Spirit in Isaiah 11:2. Where the same evils exist, and all that which would keep the church as a chaste virgin espoused to Christ is gone, no wonder that these warnings are misunderstood. She is using here opportunities of service. Rev. [Note: See Stanton, pp. Sir W. M. Ramsay said of Sardis that nowhere was there a greater example of the melancholy contrast between past splendour and present decay. God freely acknowledges that life today is full of mysteries; but it will not always be so. The feebler you are the more closely should you keep to the Scriptures. Laodicea, The Church Condemned ( Revelation 3:14-22). An angel setting forth representation (human or not), an ideal representative of each assembly is meant. I do not speak of justification by faith; for even Luther, as I think, never got thoroughly clear as to the truth of it. Cambridge University Press, 10.1017/CBO9781139208758, pages 120-120, 2013. Dead Protestantism. Here is a warning against what we might call "spasmodic Christianity." Remember what Solomon says, "The conies are a feeble folk," but he puts them down as wise people, for they have their habitation in the rocks. They have the awful ignominy of Judaizing the church of God. I must be crushed out of existence before my convictions of the truth of the doctrines of grace in the old-fashioned form can ever be taken from me. His having the seven Spirits of God was distinct from the Ephesian picture; nor is anything at all similar in the description of the Lord Jesus given before. That is a door which no man can ever shut and it is one which Jesus opened when he assured men of the seeking love of God the Father. No other religion has the vision of a seeking God. You have been steadfast; therefore I will employ you." (ii) The Risen Christ says: "Repent!" 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 on the earth. Eventually they would have to admit their error, at the judgment of unbelievers (the great white throne judgment) if not earlier (Isaiah 45:23; Isaiah 60:14; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11). In the old story of the kings, Abijah alone of all the sons of Jeroboam was spared because in him was found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel ( 1 Kings 14:13). Even on the Emmaus road, "He appeared to be going further" ( Luke 24:28). He will reward them at his return (10-11). In that valley Laodicea stood. A Jew in God's sense of the term was not one who could claim racial descent from Abraham but one of any nation who had made the same venture of faith as he had ( Romans 9:6-9). The Pastoral Epistles describe those who had drifted away from the true faith by saying that they had a form of godliness but denied its power ( 2 Timothy 3:5). Writing to the Corinthians of the work which lies ahead of him, Paul says: "For a wide door for effective work has opened to me" ( 1 Corinthians 16:9). (i) It is used as a warning to the heedless. He says, "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." Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. They stored it up as bees store away honey, and they were as ready to defend it as bees are to guard their stores. ], "The threefold occurrence of onoma (name) is impressive and amounts to a threefold assurance of his identity with God." But says He who has eyes like a flame of fire, "I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give to each according to your works.". It was picked up by the Protestants. They were a company of poor people with no man of means among them; and there are many such churches that are peculiarly precious to the heart of God, who cares nothing for gold, and everything for sincerity. There is an evident allusion to the manner in which the Lord presented Himself to the church in Ephesus. Own . If the Lord has rebuked you, then be thankful He loves you. This book then is the revelation of Jesus Christ, "which God gave unto him." Particular care is taken here to show it to us. It is a grand thing to work your passage to a truth, to mine your way to the golden ore by digging and clearing. What He is is the main point. In the ancient world there were at least six cities called Laodicea and this one was called Laodicea on the Lycus to distinguish it from the others. Never but here occurs an address to a certain number of assemblies, particularly one so definite and significant symbolically as seven. We see the telegraph wires, but we do not see what messages they may carry. The only possible way I can understand of exempting any from the time is by taking them out of the scene. Read full chapter Footnotes Christ has opened the door for these Gentile Christians, and no Jew is able to close it. There is a doctrine known as the manifested sons of God that advocates the super sainthood. Such is Protestantism. I say not this of you all, but only of confirmed and faithful ones. What had these Philadelphian believers done that they should be praised? Ephesus was the first presentation of the general public state. To use that door of opportunity is at once our privilege and our responsibility. Even the once great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. Blessed shall he be who only wanted to know the Lord's will that he might do it unquestioningly, caring nothing what the will of other people might be in the matter. Let them abide in the place of patience, even though there be tribulation, as there must be if they are content to endure for Christ's sake now. Hence what judges Protestantism is this, that they have the testimony of God's word much more fully than those who had sunk into the mere ecclesiastical formalism of the middle ages. We Jews are not supposed to go into the house of a Gentile, but the Lord told me to come so that is why I am here." The world had got in, as it still remains, and alas! ], Gundry believed that God will fulfill the promise of this verse at the Rapture, but he believed the Rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation (the posttribulation view). Those who are holding to the Word of God. The man is the agent that goes forward; the woman is the state of things that is produced. I am coming quickly. In short He is carefully regarded as man on earth, as the sent One who lives on account of the Father in the gospel as a man on earth, in the revelation as a man most truly wherever He may be seen, whether in heaven or on earth. I believe that is something that God is going to do. 2. Explore high-quality books by self-published authors. Laodicea, Neither One Thing Nor Another ( Revelation 3:14-22 Continued). Here it is what God was going to do for His glory as the rejected man. I do not in the least doubt that God proves Himself faithful in the worst of times. 293. There was deipnon ( G1173) ; this was the evening meal; the main meal of the day; people lingered over it, for the day's work was done. God is holy because he is different from men; he has that quality of being which belongs to him alone. . 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. Tepid is chliaros ( G5513) . The answer is given by the last clause when "and" is taken away: the visions that he was going to behold and record in this book whatsoever things he saw. It may be that gold tried in the fire stands for faith for it is thus that Peter describes faith ( 1 Peter 1:7). But John saw "in the midst of the [seven] lampstands one like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot." "Let us keep awake and be sober" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:6). The verse seems intended to comfort the whole church rather than to challenge unfaithful or potentially unfaithful Christians. Why espouse a book that you can't trust or is not true? recurring minor shocks drive them to sheer panic. It was founded for a special purpose. 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