2. It has been said that an author can write a good biography if he loves his subject or hates him but not if he is coldly indifferent. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy ( Revelation 3:4 ). True grace, though weak, will do more than the greatest gifts or highest degrees of common grace, for it will enable the Christian to keep the word of Christ, and not to deny his name. In Greek there are two words for true. He will reward them at his return (10-11). For the heathen this was an external thing; but this may describe the man who has kept his soul clean so that he can enter into the presence of God and not be ashamed. In A.D. 17 there came a great earthquake which destroyed Sardis and ten other cities. Do not imagine that there is anything like arbitrary innovation in this. III. "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman (perhaps 'thy wife') Jezebel." One cannot make good sense out of Revelation 3:10 otherwise. It is all a mistake, therefore, to suppose that this is a singular distinction, It amounts to this that the Lord will hold, after all, to His own truth, spite of unfaithfulness. The truth is too great for us ever to absorb it all, but daily and hourly we live upon it. To the north of that plain rose the long ridge of Mount Tmolus; from that ridge a series of hills went out like spurs, each forming a narrow plateau. He that is seen as Son of man is really described with those marks which belong distinctively to the "Ancient of days." Thank God that He has set before us the open door. "I John, your brother, and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the isle which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus." Thus the Lord speaks with exceeding tenderness of those that were true to His name. But I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love." Sin, as Burns had it, "petrifies the feeling.". Dead Protestantism. Philadelphia had a great characteristic which has left its mark upon this letter. All is here limited to what he saw. It is a fact of life that the best athlete and the finest scholar receive the most demanding training. This we find formally and doctrinally in his gospel. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life." A truly vital Church will always be under attack. Its importance was due entirely to its position. If that is the picture here, this phrase contains a warning and tells men to have a care, for Jesus Christ the Judge and King is at the door. Trench makes a list of people in the Bible who lost their place to someone else because they had shown that they were not fit to hold it. He is able to tell his message, for never did man speak as he did. Many say that we ought to keep "abreast of the times," whatever that may mean; and that there is a certain "spirit of the age," to which we should be subject. He will be as much marked by power in the day of glory, as by contented weakness in the present scene of grace. Even Luther never had peace in his soul, as the settled state in which he walked. I have not found your works completed before my God. The road from Ephesus to the east and to Syria was the most important in Asia. This effect of placing the faithful in Philadelphia (and hence, the faithful in all the churches; cf. And so the day will come when they will acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah and I pray and long for that day. He who is the first and the last, comprehending all in communicating His mind, which includes everything that can be given to man He it is who here speaks the Lord God, the Eternal. What is still more in John the significant point, they lost all the truth of a real life given to us in Christ. These were proper characters for him, when speaking to a church that had endeavoured to be conformed to Christ in holiness and truth, and that had enjoyed a wide door of liberty and opportunity under his care and government. In the introduction to this letter the Risen Christ is described in two phrases. Yet Christ says that because some of His people have been keeping His command to persevere, He will keep them from the worst of it. The combination of the verb and the preposition in Greek in this verse clearly means that He would keep them out of it (the pretribulation position). In each letter the Lord addresses "the angel." The coming wrath of God is described in detail throughout chaps 6-19, and features the unleashing of divine wrath in judgments as expressed in the seals, trumpet, and bowls. The star, as we are told here, so far acted upon the church for good. True grace, though weak, has the divine approbation; but, though Christ accepts a little strength, yet believers should not rest satisfied in a little, but should strive to grow in grace, to be strong in faith, giving glory to God. "Withhold not correction from the child; for, if you beat him with a rod he will not die. No man knows the day and the hour when for him eternity will invade time. 98. (ii) He is the witness on whom we can rely and who is true. 4. We have now come to the sixth letter, sent to one of the Asian churches, where observe. the unblushing worldliness one sees in the combination of Dissenters with Papists and infidels springs from just, pure, holy, and unselfish motives. 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. (b) In the way of Christ the reward of work well done is more work to do. They came out, but not far enough. Life in Christ, where there is spiritual intelligence, takes one out of the vanities of the world in principle. The promise to the overcomers that they would go no more out refers to their fixed position as pillars in the temple; and with the two massive pillars in Solomons temple in view, saying that overcoming Christians will be placed in the position of pillars in the temple is the same as saying that these Christians will occupy sure, secure, firmly established positions of strength and power, positions which will be realized when they rule and reign as co-heirs with Christ in the [millennial] kingdom." Be students of God's word and adherents of it. In entering Gods kingdom, Jews must follow the way of these Gentiles, not Gentiles follow the way of the Jews (8-9).When God judges the ungodly, Christ will protect those who have remained loyal to him. The persevering Christian shall win the prize from backsliding professors, who once stood fair for it.". Take no notice of anything I say if it cannot be supported by the word of divine truth. The duty itself: "Hold fast that which thou hast, that faith, that truth, that strength of grace, that zeal, that love to the brethren; thou hast been possessed of this excellent treasure, hold it fast." They were not like that famous church at Corinth, where everybody could teach everybody, but where nobody cared to learn of any one. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock ( Revelation 3:20 ): Actually the church has put Christ on the outside. [1.] Other New Testament passages also teach a pretribulation Rapture (e.g., John 14:3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). When Abraham is pleading with God for Sodom, he appeals to God: "To slay the righteous with the wicked, far be that from thee" ( Genesis 18:25). Too many of us are Christian one moment and unchristian the next. "He that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations." When thus tried, they tried and found wanting those who set up to be apostles. 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." Not only is the same principle general or constant, but it is remarkably characteristic of John's own writings. It is a sweeping intimation of the very same way in which the Lord threatens to come on the world. The heavenly hope of being with Christ is promised as well as part in the kingdom. If that doesn't happen, I have had it. I have the key of David. "In him," says Paul, "all things were created" ( Colossians 1:15; Colossians 1:18). (a) In the cities of Asia Minor, and in Philadelphia, when a priest died after a lifetime of faithfulness, men honoured him, by erecting a new pillar in the temple in which he had served and by inscribing his name and the name of his father upon it. On the other hand Christ said in view of the sufferer, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days." It is amazingly easy to go through a door when it is wide open, and it will be very easy to you much easier than you think, now that you have been schooled by God's Spirit into steadfastness of character, just to say in God's name, dependent upon God's strength, what he has taught you. 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. With Jesus Christ the new kingdom of David was inaugurated; and, just as in the ancient kingdom Eliakim had the keys to admit to the royal presence, so Jesus is the door to admit to the kingdom of God. 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Who and what is he? And no doubt also it was intended in this sense that they had obeyed the word of God. It is rather an imminent event that will come suddenly and unexpectedly (Walvoord). Rush to the front. Support an independent author today! John begins his gospel by saying of the Word: "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" ( John 1:3). How stand the facts? He was not in the least worried, for he thought that all he had to do was to retire to the impregnable citadel of Sardis, recuperate and fight again. If God is the God of Amen, he is utterly to be relied upon. Now, dear friend, perhaps hitherto you have been perfectly satisfied with holding the truth with all your might, and being faithful to it in private and in your own daily life. At night with a band of brave men he climbed the steep cliffs. The Book is our ultimatum. If a man accepts the invitations of sin for long enough, the time comes when he cannot accept anything else. I have no intention to enter at any length on this way of looking at the churches as quite by-gone, and the prophecy as at once flowing on; but I mention it because it seems due to truth to name this as well as the other, according to which "what shall be after these" is when the church condition is no longer applicable at all. I want to suggest to you that if you have done this for some time the era has now arrived when you may go forward to somewhat more. This chapter completes the record of "the things which are" ( Rev. But Philadelphia also prominently brings out the Lord in person as also in His moral glory. In his book Out of Nazareth Donald Baillie cites three witnesses to the uniqueness of this conception. 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). There was no guard and once again Sardis fell because it was not upon the watch. [3.] It was founded by colonists from Pergamum under the reign of Attalus the Second, who ruled in Pergamum from 159 to 138 B.C. See the notes on Luke 2:1. He taught Bible studies and cared about other men facing death. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." "Write therefore [which is undoubtedly genuine] the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and what shall be hereafter." If I am a master, the conduct that might be proper in a servant would not become me. "As many as I love, I rebuke." In our heart of hearts we believe that the stern words cannot possibly be meant for us and that the promises are too good to be true for us. Why, there are great folk among us that never care to believe according to God's word at all. (ii) It is used as a comfort to the oppressed. The angel, it is needless to say, is not without good reason named in relation to the revelations which God was here giving. We have most of us heard what conflicts he had, and not merely at the beginning of his career but to the end. We will enter into the third section, the things which will be after these things of the church. With the exception of Smyrna the other Churches are in ruins but Philadelphia still holds aloft the banner of the Christian faith. They will not be in that hour. (ii) He is he who is true. Possibly they were little, too, in those things which go side by side with grace: I mean in knowledge, and in power to utter what they knew. This was the public state of things produced in the middle ages, and tolerated where the Lord was named. 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. And so too with our Lord Jesus, as we shall see. No commandment appears more frequently in the New Testament than that to watch. In Jesus' name, Amen. Revelation 2:10 c, 25; Revelation 3:4). (John 5:1-47) And now that grace and truth were about to be utterly set at naught, as He Himself had been before by that which bore His name on the earth, John was more than any other suited to let us see the solemn visions of God avenging the slighted rights of His own Son; and this, first, by providential judgments; lastly, by Christ Himself coming in the personal execution of judgment. - NLTSB. Clearly such a position made it almost impregnable. "[50] A secondary meaning applies the text to the final judgment. That which must keep a Christian faithful is the vision of a world for Christ, for the coming of such a world depends on the fidelity of the individual Christian. Hot is zestos ( G2200) ; and it means hot to boiling point. "I am the door," said Jesus ( John 10:7; John 10:9). You shall be no kept that what will prove to be a time of temptation to so many, shall not endanger your salvation. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. Habits grow upon him until he can no longer break them. Are we content to be little, my friends? God therefore writes for our comfort, admonition, and general blessing in whatever way it may be wanted; He takes for granted that we are interested in whatever He has to say to us. In this there seems to be couched a gentle reproof: "Thou hast a little strength, a little grace, which, though it be not proportionate to the wide door of opportunity which I have opened to thee, yet is true grace, and has kept thee faithful." Even the once great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. We will also release more in depth conversations on specific passages of scripture as the Father leads. It is a tremendous pagan celebration originating in Babylon adopted by Rome called Saturnalia. In this church we feel very little of the temptation which tries all the world: very seldom are any of our friends unsettled in their minds, or tormented with these hornets of heresy. "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not." It was the last bastion of Asian Christianity. They set up to be more righteous and holy than the rest, whom they denounced as Antinomian because they stood in the true grace of God. Believers on earth will meet the Lord in the air and thus escape the hour of trial . Philadelphia, Inheritors Of The Promise ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). Esau lost his place to Jacob ( Genesis 25:34; Genesis 27:36). (b) In John's gospel Jesus' statements often begin: "Truly, truly, I say to you" (e.g. A particular assembly, or even the assemblies of a district (Galatians 1:1-24), may be addressed. 288, 289. But more than this, it is Christ seen according to the largeness of His glory. But how are we to describe or understand "the word of God"? But this is here restricted: it does not mean the truth in general, nor the gospel in particular, though we cannot doubt that John did preach the gospel, and did nourish the church of God in all His revealed truth; but this is not the subject of the Apocalypse, nor the meaning of our text. Sir W. M. Ramsay said of Sardis that nowhere was there a greater example of the melancholy contrast between past splendour and present decay. Verse Revelation 3:10. "Why not?" . II. As Beasley-Murray said, "This is not a designation of a period of time, but of the trial itself. There was no life or spirit there. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" ( Matthew 5:8). But it is a solemn thing to feel that such a crisis was even then come, as far as regarded the church of God here below. And it was then that he uttered his famous saying to Croesus: "Call no man happy until he is dead." Impossible to believe that e.g. Still, after all, one of the grand points fought for at the Reformation, and gained for Protestantism, whatever might be its defects, was this; that man was put fairly, freely, and openly in presence of the Bible. Is not this a very serious fact? (a) There may be a heathen background. (2.) Also, both churches received their opposition from the Jews.He who carries the key of David has the authority to allow people into or shut them out from the city of David, which here is symbolic of the new Jerusalem, the kingdom of Jesus Christ (7; cf. It is plain that it is here as ever the first departure the most general symptom of declension. 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. This is all the more likely because it was common at baptism to clothe a man, after he had emerged from the water, in clean white robes, symbolic of the cleansing of his life. He is seen upon His glorious throne with the Father in the Eternal Kingdom - the New Jerusalem. 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. Saul lost his place to David ( 1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 16:13). When another subject is about to open, the first voice which he heard as of a trumpet talking with him said "Come up hither;" there is no question then of a voice behind. When God told to Moses the blessing which Aaron and the priests must pronounce over the people, he said: "They shall put my name upon the people of Israel" ( Numbers 6:22-27). It was specially connected with a tunic called the trimita, so much so, indeed, that it was sometimes called Trimitaria. "Within this sacred volume lies The mystery of mysteries; Happiest they of human race To whom our God hath given grace To read, to mark, to think, to pray, To know the right, to learn the way; But better they had ne'er been born Who read to doubt, or read to scorn.". However the future repentance of Israel at Messiahs second coming that will result in the Jews respectful treatment of Gentile believers seems to be in view here (cf. At the Persian court the king's most trusted favourites were given the privilege of walking in the royal gardens with the king and were called "The Companions of the Garden." The Greek is elegchein ( G1651) and it describes the kind of rebuke which compels a man to see the error of his ways. He still loves the church in this apostate condition. It was on the edge of a great plain called the Katakekaumene ( G2618) , which means the Burned Land. Victory lies before you. 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