“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ Revelation 3:1-6
“Him Who has the seven spirits of God (Holy Spirit) and the seven stars (churches)” is the source of all truth and the authority over the Body of Christ.
These are sad words. You seem to be alive, but you are dead. There is no spiritual production from you. There is a little spiritual life left in you, and it needs to be strengthened before I come. This is a church in name only. This applies as well to the dark ages, in which there was meaningless ritual but no reality. Your works are shallow, immature; you are stunted in your spiritual growth. You are going through the motions, but there is no substance in your teaching or in your worship.
Even so, there is a small remnant within your congregation who are true believers. They understand the gospel and honor the name of Jesus Christ. They will be remembered, protected and rewarded for their faithfulness in the midst of such spiritual famine. Jesus promises to represent them to the Father and the angels.
I believe there is an important message here for all of us
who perhaps think a local church has lost her spirit, and therefore is empty
and false and no one in that congregation could possibly have a handle on the
truth. There usually are a few who are hanging on to the true doctrine they
were once taught. They are patiently waiting for the Lord as they pray for
those around them and continue to cherish and share the gospel message wherever
they can. Simeon and Anna, in Luke 2:22-38 were not Church; they were Israel,
but they were this type of believer. They were in a corrupt religious system,
but knew the Lord’s Christ was coming, and were waiting AT THE TEMPLE for his
appearance. The Lord honored them by allowing them to be among the first to see
and even hold the infant Jesus. We have some of those in the Church. They have
the ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Their names are
permanently recorded in the book of life.
To the Church in Philadelphia
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia
write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of
David, who opens and no one
will 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 they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept
my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is
coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on
the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you
have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one 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.’ Revelation 3:7-13
Jesus identified Himself to the Church at Philadelphia as the
Holy One. Absolute Righteousness + Perfect Justice = Holiness. The set-apart
one. Anointed and appointed to execute the plan of God. He is also the true one.
Perfect Veracity. Absolute truth. There can be nothing false in Him. He has the
key of David. That is the authority to make the final decisions regarding our
opportunities to learn and teach His gospel. He has opened that door. No man
can shut it. It is the work of God.
This church at Philadelphia were soul-winners. The chief
deity of the city was Dionysus, the god of wine, and they were not numerically
strong, but this church worshipped Jesus Christ, the sovereign of the universe.
They kept His word and honored His name. There were those phony Jews here, too,
who claimed Jewishness but denied the Messiah, Jesus Christ. True Jews are God’s
people, and would recognize their Messiah. These false Jews are not God’s
people by virtue of their physical birth, but are of Satan’s religious system. There will come a time when these
liars will be prostrated at the feet of the Christians they have persecuted,
and will know that it is the Christians they love to insult who are loved by
the Lord.
Those who keep His word, learning patient endurance, will be
delivered from the great tribulation that will be inflicted upon the world. There
are no signs to watch for, regarding this great tribulation. He will come for
His Church suddenly (soon), and after the Church and the Holy Spirit are gone
they world will find itself in tribulation the likes of which no one has ever
seen.
By holding fast to the purity of truth we have been taught, we
can suffer no loss of reward (“no one can seize your crown”). Those who are
overcomers IN CHRIST will be honored by permanent fixtures in the temple of God,
having clear identification with God in the new Jerusalem and bearing the new
name of God the Son. I’m seeing a pattern here. Jesus Christ expects his Church
to respect and honor His name at all times in all circumstances, and He expects
us to learn and love and live His perfect Word of Truth.
The Philadelphia believers had ears to hear and understand the message of the Holy Spirit to the Churches.
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