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. It sometimes happens that a man is given a task to do and goes towards it with the highest hopes; but it begins to be seen that he is too small for the task and he is removed from the task and it is given to someone else. Rush to the front. At the same time they fatally compromised Christ by alliance with the world, and there followed the practical return to the world out of which grace had taken the church in order to union with Christ in glory. Wicked men envy the people of God their door of liberty, and would be glad to shut it against them. That stands for the gift of citizenship in the city of God to the faithful Christian. If you have nothing but nature, it would be intelligible; but if you have seen the Son of God and believed in Him, if by grace you have the same life which was in Him, so that this thing is true of Him and of you, no possible standard can suit for you as a Christian short of Christ Himself. Let men call you bigot, but never mind, hold you on with all your might, and your Lord will smile upon you. Some taught the gospel very quietly in their own family circle, and so kept it. [3.] Hyeroeades knew that there must be a crack in the rock there by means of which an agile man could climb up. John says, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. Read full chapter Footnotes Let us weigh a little more these remarkable words. When he came to Troas, a door was opened to him by the Lord ( 2 Corinthians 2:12). Supposing that we have not such big heads as some have, and cannot excogitate or multiply sophisms and inventions as they do, it will be no small thing to be commended at the last, in these terms "Thou hast a little strength, but thou hast kept my word." John stands in a position analogous to Daniel; he becomes now the object of the communications of the Lord Jesus, not that which still bore the name of the Lord here below. "In the death chamber he asked forgiveness from the victim's family and told them he was sorry for what he had done. Those who still dared to live in the city were reckoned mad; they spent their time shoring up the shaking buildings and every now and then fleeing to the open spaces for safety. If that light was ineffectual, if there was evil mixed with it, the state of the assembly would partake of it. The final and above all the decisive message of grace, which called the Jews outside all earthly associations to Christ in heaven, was given neither by Peter nor by James, and by no other than Paul. And I am persuaded there is no place which is more likely to generate neutrality than a sound and true position, if there be not self-judgment maintained and godly sincerity. There is not a word about His coming as a thief now, but with joy. A pillar of the Church is a great and honoured support. "Mission for God exists because worship of God doesn't." -John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad Introduction: At the same time another way of looking at the book is by taking "the things that are" as already past and gone. It was so before when He was here below in grace, and now He must resume its power and glory and judgment, than which one can hardly conceive a greater and more solemn rebuke on the condition of those who ought to have been His witnesses. "So then because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. The Lord "opens the door, "so this message calls us to be faithful, using the opportunities of service which Christ provides. You have been steadfast; therefore I will employ you." It is a false principle therefore that we can only be profited by that which concerns ourselves, and supposes us to be in the actual circumstances described. Whatever novelty comes up, keep to the word of Jesus! Clarke's Commentary. As Beasley-Murray said, "This is not a designation of a period of time, but of the trial itself. No man can shut it. we're increased with goods, we have need of nothing; you know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ( Revelation 3:17 ): Interesting how the church observes itself and how Jesus observes the church. It is not that the time is actually come so that we must go through all or any part; but the time is at hand. Philadelphia, Promise And Warning ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). (2.) We must therefore look for another explanation. God is testing you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? While, therefore, he had all that is properly Christian, he also had very special communications of another character for saints who will follow us at the end of this age. They may express either the reason why the door stands open before the Christians of Philadelphia or the reason why they will be given those who belong to the synagogue of Satan. It [ Rev 3:10] is a promise, not to all the church, but to a certain clearly-defined portion of itthose who keep the doctrine of Christ's second advent, and its hope of rapture. (i) The Church at Sardis was untroubled by any heresy. And that isn't to say that God doesn't call people as He did to the Jews, but He has not called me. (b) There may be a reference to the old story of Enoch. The more you stand in the forefront of the battle, with the responsible testimony of God, the more you have the grace and truth of God brought out before and by you, if the heart and conscience be not governed and animated by the power of the Spirit of God, through that truth and grace that is in Christ, sooner or later, there will be, beyond a question, a lapse back into a position of neutrality, if not of active enmity. Every band of believers has some strength: weak as we are in ourselves, the very fact of our possessing faith proves that we have a portion of strength. An angel setting forth representation (human or not), an ideal representative of each assembly is meant. 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.". Then, in Him that held them all in His right hand, and walked in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, we have Christ not merely as holding fast those ideal representatives, but as also taking interest in the assemblies themselves. God is beginning the end, the resolution of all things, the gathering together (resolution, summing up) of all things in one in Jesus ( Ephesians 1:10 ). II. 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. She is using here opportunities of service. For this we must stand up and fight to the death. Why, these are the treasures of men, and they shall pass away. (iii) Sin is the death of all loveliness. We will enter into the third section, the things which will be after these things of the church. I also will keep thee - That is, I will so keep you that you shall not sink under the trials which will prove a severe temptation to many. The meaning then is that John testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Getting back to who it is promised to be kept from the Great Tribulation, let us now look at the context and audience of Revelation 3:10. Whoever that might be (one, or perhaps more,) was meant by the angel. Clearly such a position made it almost impregnable. 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. Hold on to what you have, that no one may take your crown. 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. 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. One of the highest rewards of patience in one trial is the grace that God gives us to bear another. I am at this pass, I can sooner die than yield the gospel. We can't really sit back and say, "Look, how many we have got coming here." If we hear of the Apocalyptic angel of fire, we readily understand this; and if we hear of the angel of Jesus Christ as of Jehovah elsewhere, we find no insuperable difficulty. ( Luke 6:26). ], The Greek word translated "testing" (peirasai) means to test to demonstrate the quality of a thing, not to purify its quality. The fire must be kept burning. This is probably a subjective gentive, meaning the endurance that Jesus Himself displayed rather than the endurance that He requires. (i) It has been taken as a warning that the end is near, and that the Coming of Christ is at hand. 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. 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. I am sure Luther is one from whom we may all learn much; whose courage, faithfulness, self-renunciation, and endurance are edifying and instructive. "Be watchful, stand firm in your faith," he urges ( 1 Corinthians 16:13). Had they not left their first love? But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their garments and they will walk with me in white raiment, because they are worthy. What can be wider than to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God? (3.) Revelation 3:1. They may not know it as a whole, having never read it save (?) This poor creature has no power or influence; he is rather ridiculous than useful. Sin is the killer of life's loveliness. "I have not found your works perfect," says the Risen Christ, "in the sight of my God." Own . Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick.It is based on the 1926 novella Traumnovelle (Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's setting from early twentieth-century Vienna to 1990s New York City.The plot centers on a doctor who is shocked when his wife (Nicole Kidman) reveals that she had . Montefiore, the great Jewish scholar, said that the one thing which no Jewish prophet or Rabbi ever conceived of is the "conception of God actually going out in quest of sinful men, who were not seeking him, but who were turned away from him." the whole world . In no other place do we find anything akin to this. All must be and was measured according to God's own mind, and the place in which He set the assemblies. In this life even the best of us is sometimes bad. What it guarantees is protection away from the scene of the hour of trial while that hour is in progress. This hour of testing will involve the "whole world" (Gr. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut and none shall open." "Pretrib Rapture" - Revelation 3:10. In the descriptions of the second chapter what was said about the Lord is a repetition of what was found in the vision John had just seen. That is what happened in Philadelphia. The Lord help you to keep his word, and then to go in for public testimony. Another thing is observable, when one looks into what is said here. The ground of such a thought lies in the fact that the introduction to Sardis indicates the Lord beginning again a new state of things. Go ahead! 1-888-672-6657. I am looking forward to the Lord confessing my name before His Father. But that cannot happen if every day a man lives in the presence of Christ; he who walks hand-in-hand with Christ cannot be taken unawares by his coming. Directly opposite Laodicea, on the other bank of the Lycus, and in full view, stood Hierapolis, famous for its hot mineral springs. Heresy is always the product of the searching mind; it is, in fact, the sign of a Church that is alive. In the gospel it is said, God gives Him to have life in Himself. The trial was not unlimited: the Lord defined the term of their endurance. Now, I shall speak for myself and for you, and I know that we can bear witness that this promise is true. Revelation 2:17; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 19:12). (iv) Apart from all these things, for any man the door of prayer is always open. . If you have kept God's word you may be wielding an influence far beyond what you imagine. oikoymenes, the inhabited earth), not just a local area. 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