Jezebel was a mother indeed a holy mother, said the deceivers and deceived. The National Christian Council of Japan in a document found the distinctive difference of Christianity from all other religions in, "Man not seeking God, but God taking the initiative in seeking man." In order to make this more realised by the believers then or at any other time, be it remarked that we have another word remarkably annexed which lies altogether out of the beaten path of the Lord. 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). I know your works. 2. [Note: See Stanton, pp. How comes this remarkable introduction of God to Jesus, then from Him through an angel to one servant, who sends to other servants? All was the fruit, doubtless, of what had been works before, but in far greater maturity now. So, the promise of being kept from the Great Tribulation, because we have kept the word of His patience. But, dear friends, as this expression was used to the angel of the church at Philadelphia, whom I suppose to be the minister of the church, I do not feel that I shall be doing any violence to the text if I take it in reference to each individual; and I have no doubt that there will be individual Christians present at this time who, though they have but little strength, have kept God's word. He that is seen as Son of man is really described with those marks which belong distinctively to the "Ancient of days." We have seen how it was a border town, standing where the boundaries of Lydia, Mysia and Phrygia met, and founded to be a missionary of Greek language and culture to the barbarous peoples beyond. (iii) Jesus Christ will confess their names before his Father and the angels. It is "the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him." (i) It may be the door of missionary opportunity. The Greek is elegchein ( G1651) and it describes the kind of rebuke which compels a man to see the error of his ways. Revelation (Life Application Bible Commentary) by Bruce B Barton at AbeBooks.co.uk - ISBN 10: 0842328742 - ISBN 13: 9780842328746 - Tyndale House Publishers - 2000 - Softcover Let us first take the word rebuke. In the gospel it is said, God gives Him to have life in Himself. 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. Believe you God's word, and you have wrought a god-like work. Peter and James and John were the pillars of the early church in Jerusalem ( Galatians 2:9). That which had produced the mighty results was no longer active, nor could be. However other Scriptures make it clear that God will catch up all Christians, faithful and unfaithful, at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). There was ariston ( G712) , the midday meal. It was in an area where there was a very large Jewish population. Beyond this point lay a broad valley where Lydia, Phrygia and Caria met. Now there are many today who are not watching for the return of Jesus Christ. to the angel of the church of Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness ( Revelation 3:14 ). Our last point was to be A WORD OF PROMISE; for, according to the tenth verse, it is written, "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." 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. The way and manner in which he performs these acts, and that is absolute sovereignty, independent upon the will of men, and irresistible by the power of men: He openeth, and no man shutteth; he shutteth, and no man openeth; he works to will and to do, and, when he works, none can hinder. ", But there is more of Philadelphia's history than that in this letter. 1. This seems to imply His own willingness to die, as indeed He became what did not belong to Him personally, and what in short seemed extraordinarily incongruous with the glorious person that had been already described. If, then, you are not on the watch, I will come as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. This promise recurs again and again in Isaiah. We are NOT reading the Bible each day, just providing a reading plan as well as a 3 or so minute observation or devotion based on that day's content. They have slipped into the world, and share its fears and anxieties. At the same time it is useless to blink the fact: energetic as he was and used of God largely, he was far behind in the understanding both of the church and of the gospel. It was under his authority, and indeed by his call, that the famous council sat at Nicea, and the faith of the Trinity was publicly established. Sardis gives the rise of the new state of things, not strictly ecclesiastical the Lord acting in the way of testimony, and not so much in ecclesiastical order. I am at this pass, I can sooner die than yield the gospel. See the notes on Luke 2:1. Second, it supplies us with an inspiration. We will take you to heaven next Sunday night.Oh God, give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. It may be, you have little strength of mind; but I hope even then grace enables you to be firm for truth. If the thought of the age happens to be right, well and good; but it is not upon temporary opinion that we rest. It would be the falsest possible deduction to suppose that Daniel and his three companions, possibly others also, were not personally as pleasant to the Lord as David was. The insistence on the Son's part in creation was due to the heretics who explained sin and disease by saying that the world had been created by a false and inferior god. It is very characteristic of the teaching of Proverbs. The Protestant Reformation in Europe is dead. That is my only hope. Jesus Christ is for ever true to the man who is true to him. Such I believe the promise here to import. Even in Sardis there are the faithful few. When Talkative came up to gossip with Christian and Hopeful, he chattered away upon all sorts of topics, and they were wearied with him. The patristic party those commonly called "the Fathers" seem to be the leaders of the party here referred to. "Mission for God exists because worship of God doesn't." -John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad Introduction: At that time the emperor made the declaration that Christianity should be the recognized religion throughout the Roman Empire. Wealth can do much but there are things that it can never do. Philadelphia, Promise And Warning ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). The Lord "opens the door, "so this message calls us to be faithful, using the opportunities of service which Christ provides. Overstreet, pp. Above all, if we have but little strength of any kind, let us keep God's word. You are children of the light, therefore walk as children of the light." I open and no man can shut. I cannot but think that this state of things is referred to here: "Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." Tacitus writes: "One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in that same year overthrown by an earthquake and without any relief from us recovered itself by its own resources" (Tacitus: Annals 14: 27). Remember also that it is so much to the increase of brotherly love to have a clear eye to see the imperfections of our friends. One of these days we are going to go into the phone booth and change our clothes and we are going to come out with super power and we are going to just point at the Russians and they will just shrivel and die. Revelation 10:7 "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." "The mystery": A Greek term meaning "to shut" or "to close". He taught Bible studies and cared about other men facing death. The first epistle, the message to the angel of the church in Ephesus, looks at the state of the Christian testimony on the earth in its most comprehensive form, and, as I suppose, from the days of the apostle John himself. "In principle, the same promise would fit the judgment as the great trial for the whole human race. Learn here, (1.) It is the second of these words which is used here. It is for discipline that you have to endure. Good men in the dark days of Popery found out the truth, but they only lived, perhaps, in some quiet village, or shut up in a monastery, and the most they could do was to write down what they knew and so keep it. 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. If that doesn't happen, I have had it. Those who gather on Sunday evening to study the Word of God. Keep to the truth, and the modern school will give you a wide berth. No one goes to hades before he dies death being in relation to the body, hades to the separate spirit. Men who deserve praise can bear it, and some of them even need it. Since they have honored Him on earth He will acknowledge them in heaven (cf. That in itself would have been enough to make Laodicea one of the great commercial and strategic centres of the ancient world. This seems conveyed in the peculiarity of the words: so careful is the Holy Ghost to watch over the glory of Christ even in that which told out the depths of His humiliation. In no other place do we find anything akin to this. Ephesus does not, nor Smyrna, nor Pergamos: the only semblance of it is in threats of present judgment. (iii) Sin is the death of all loveliness. As the Christian sees it, the God of creation and the God of redemption are one and the same. 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. Greatest of the Sardian kings was Croesus, whose name is still commemorated in the proverb, "As rich as Croesus." "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth ( Revelation 3:15-16 ). Often hot mineral springs are nauseating in their taste and make the person who drinks them want to be physically sick. God help you to keep to it. Jezebel therefore is the appropriate symbol now, as Balaam was just before. It mass-produced cheap outer garments. This means that in the district there were at least 7,500 male Jews. He did originally, as for instance in the ten words, though afterwards in this very particular intervention came in. 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