Oh, dear child of God, you may be very little in Israel; but if you love the word of God there is a something about you in which God takes delight. You read the Gallup Polls and all and it is rather frightening to find out how many ministers do not really believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, do not believe in the virgin birth, do not believe that there is an actual heaven or hell. Laodicea, The Church Condemned ( Revelation 3:14-22). 101.] "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right land, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." (b) Some scholars think that what is here promised is fixity of moral character. If a disputer can once get you away from the Bible, he can swallow you alive; but if you will keep to Scripture, and handle this weapon, "It is written; it is written," the disputer may be the arch-fiend himself, but he cannot possibly get the victory over you. There are two possible pictures here. As the Te Deum has it: "Thou didst open the kingdom of Heaven to all believers." (a) This may be a promise of security. Literally, it is the word of my endurance. Or perhaps the text may mean that if the temptation shall come you shall be preserved from it. Hot is zestos ( G2200) ; and it means hot to boiling point. I know of one only spirit to whom I desire to be subject, and that is the Spirit of all the ages, who never changes. We will also release more in depth conversations on specific passages of scripture as the Father leads. We have seen how for years Philadelphia was terrorized by recurring earthquakes of the earth and how, when such times came, its citizens fled into the open country to escape and, when the tremors ended, came uncertainly back. We have intervention on every side. ], "In contrast to the fate of Eliakim [see comment on Revelation 3:7], who was like a peg that gave way, and the buildings that perished in Philadelphias earthquakes, the victor is assured that his place in the city which comes down out of heaven is eternally secured." 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. [Note: See Renald E. Showers, Maranatha: Our Lord, Come! It was the Christian belief that the Jewish nation had lost its place in the plan of God and that that place had passed to the Church. More, however, is meant than simply loving the word, though that is no small thing. This marks particularly the change in the chapter, and especially in the part before us. Since John wrote both of the passages under consideration, and both are quotes from Jesus Himself, it makes sense to interpret them similarly, enforcing the idea that Revelation 3:10 means to literally "keep from" rather than to preserve through. The Christian must be ready to open whenever he hears his Lord knocking ( Luke 12:36). This effect of placing the faithful in Philadelphia (and hence, the faithful in all the churches; cf. 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. Is not this the revival of that dreadful scourge that had afflicted the early church (even Smyrna)? According to Ezekiel the name of the re-created city of God was to be The Lord is there ( Ezekiel 48:35). Revelation 3:13) in a position of safety presupposes that they will have been removed to another location (i.e., heaven) at the periods beginning. This of course connects His present existence with the future as well as the past. They had little strength, but they kept God's word, and they did not deny his name. I am afraid that there are great truths in God's word which we do not intelligently believe, but take for granted. We might well paraphrase it: "It is the people who are dearest to me on whom I exercise the sternest discipline.". How can it surprise those who are ever awaiting Him? They have the awful ignominy of Judaizing the church of God. He who was emphatically the apostle of the uncircumcision was the appointed witness of Christ to those who had been Jews. We have taken them with the words which precede them. Nor is it confined to prophecy, for the same force holds good wherever symbol is employed. Revelation 3:8-10King James Version. What a solemn conjunction, that there should be this close proximity between Satan's throne without, but withal the mercy of God still maintaining that fundamental faith of Christ's own personal glory! The Protestant Reformation in Europe is dead. They are supposed to be not marked by such mighty doings, as Sardis was, Sardis did great exploits, Philadelphia nothing of the sort. "He that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations." (i) The Church at Sardis was untroubled by any heresy. Again there is a double background. The Risen Christ urges it to buy white raiment from him. James spoke with respect and admiration of the man who kept himself "unstained from the world" ( James 1:27). 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." I say not this of you all, but only of confirmed and faithful ones. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. Find fault with a brother and he will be kept from growing too proud; and he will, no doubt, go forward blessing you very much for your kind consideration in promoting his humility. It mass-produced cheap outer garments. But He says that He became dead. [Note: Ibid., p. It is possible that when Jesus Christ is called the Amen it is a reminiscence of his own way of speaking. (ii) He is he who has the seven stars. Yet, spite of drawbacks, an open Bible was won for God's children in particular, and for man also. There the Holy Ghost was the only one competent to minister and effectuate such grace according to the counsels of God, and in the ordering of His love. 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." I am sure Luther is one from whom we may all learn much; whose courage, faithfulness, self-renunciation, and endurance are edifying and instructive. "Therefore," he says, "watch!" At the same time it is manifestly He who is God and Father instructing, comforting, and admonishing His own. Tepid is chliaros ( G5513) . This favour consists in two things:--. In the time of judgment those who are written in the book will be delivered ( Daniel 12:1). Help us purchase electrical generators for churches. Not only will the Lord thus vindicate what is of Himself, but, as we know, there is an awful time coming on this world an hour, as it is said here, not simply of tribulation, but of temptation or trial. Good men have many conflicts, let us minister to their comfort. First, it supplies us with an example. Under John's leadership, Grace Community Church's two morning worship services fill the 3,500-seat auditorium to capacity. Ephesus does not, nor Smyrna, nor Pergamos: the only semblance of it is in threats of present judgment. It is much better to take this saying of Christ as expressing the appeal of the lover of the souls of men. Behold, I have set before you a door which stands open and which no man shuts, because you have a little strength and because you have kept my word, and have not denied my name. (i) It was a great banking and financial centre. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: (1) he who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this: I know your deeds, that you have a (2) name that you are alive, but you are dead. Tzamalikos, P. Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CBO9781139208758, pages 120-120, 2013. . It is, and always must be, the effect of the clerical principle to substitute the authority of man, more or less, for that of the Lord, and to weaken and hinder the immediate action of the Spirit by the word of God on the conscience. So, the promise of being kept from the Great Tribulation, because we have kept the word of His patience. 1. Men do not keep things which they consider to be value-less: if men in our day had a higher opinion of the truth they would be more valiant for it. God help you to keep to it. The allusion is clear to Isaiah 11:1-16, where the seven-fold power of the Holy Ghost in government is described as connected with the person and for the kingdom of the Messiah. 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.". Those ministers that are pro-abortion and pro-pornography and pro every other evil that comes down the pike, who dress in clerical robes and claim to be ministers of Jesus Christ but are really of the synagogue of Satan. 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. The state of the church in Ephesus has the same generality. Revelation 1:1; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 2:16; Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:12; Revelation 22:20; 2 Peter 3:8). The new name of Christ, the Mediator, the Redeemer, the captain of our salvation; by this it will appear under whose banner this conquering believer had enlisted, under whose conduct he acted, by whose example he was encouraged, and under whose influence he fought the good fight, and came off victorious. "Watch, therefore," said Jesus, "for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." I do not in the least doubt that God proves Himself faithful in the worst of times. Clarke's Revelation 3:10 Bible Commentary The word of my patience - The doctrine which has exposed you to so much trouble and persecution, and required so much patience and magnanimity to bear up under its attendant trials. "Behold, I come quickly!" Above all, if we have but little strength of any kind, let us keep God's word. 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