April 27, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
No church is perfect, but the ancient Church of Philadelphia
probably came close. Today on turning point, doctor David Jeremiah
takes us back to the church that drew only positive
comments from Christ. As we'll see, the incredible love of
these early Christians is matched only by the incredible promises
(00:25):
Jesus makes to them. To conclude his message, the Faithful
Church Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Here's David.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, throughout the Bible, there are mountaintop places, there are
special passages that we look to, and I'm in the
midst of studying and teaching one of those passages right
now as we talk about the Faithful Church of Philadelphia.
From the seven churches that received letters from the Lord
Jesus penned by John from the Isle of Patmos. This
(00:54):
church represents one of the best periods of time in
the history of the Church, and you and I have
lived through that. I believe we may be coming to
the end of it. But the Church of Philadelphia has
been a time of great outreach with the Gospel around
the world, and continues to do so even today. We'll
(01:14):
get to that in just a moment, but first, just
a couple of announcements to keep you up to date.
You may be wondering where you can get outlines of
all of these messages on Revelation, and the best place
to find those is in the set of study guides
that we produced with every outline and all of the
information that you're hearing every day on the radio. From
(01:35):
the first chapter to the last chapter. There are four
study guides that will take you through the Book of Revelation.
You can find these at David Jeremiah dot org. When
they come to you, you can devour them. You can
use them to teach, to preach, to study, whatever you
need to do. But these study guides will help you
(01:57):
wrap your arms around The Book of Revelation wants you
to know about them. You can get them again from
David Jeremiah dot org, and you should do so today.
Well here's part two of the Faithful Church of Philadelphia.
These verses are Revelation three seventh to thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Let's begin.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
You know, you don't usually feel complimented if somebody says
you have a little strength, but that's what the Lord says.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
In the eighth verse.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
He says, I want to compliments you that not only
do you have an open door and no man can
shut it, but thou hast a little strength. And that
term in the original language actually carries the thought of
but little strength. In other words, it is not that
the church still has a little strength and then thus
can function to some degree. Rather, what the Lord is
(02:49):
saying is that it has but little strength in itself,
so that the source of its power must ultimately depend
upon the Lord. The Lord alone opens the door, and
the Lord alone gives the increase. And if you have
a little strength and it's his, you're okay. It's when
you have big strength and it's yours that you're in trouble.
(03:11):
It's when you're depending on your buildings and your budgets
and your staff and all of your ideas and your
organizational plan and your outreach and all of the rest.
And the strength is not in the Lord, but it's
in you. They had a little strength. They were not
much if you looked at him from the outside, but
(03:32):
they were mighty in the hands of God. And then
he commends them. Thirdly, because they had kept the word. Notice,
as you read the eighth verse, he says, you have
kept my word in the midst of the denial of
the scriptures. This church to believed the Bible to be authoritative,
and they kept the word of God. And the fourth
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compliment that he gives to them is that they have
not denied the Lord notice at the end of the verse,
and has not denied my name. Having to do with
the great controversy that was going on in that period
of time concerning the deity of Jesus Christ, the Christians
in Philadelphia had stood up strong and said, we believe
(04:15):
Jesus Christ is the Lord God, and we have not
denied his name. By the way, more than a few
church growth experts have said that the four characteristics of
this church are usually found in churches that are having
a vibrant testimony for Jesus Christ. A door of opportunity
opened by God, a sense of their own powerlessness apart
(04:36):
from Christ, a commitment to the Word of God, and
absolute integrity as it relates to doctrine.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
When those things are.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
There, oftentimes you see a church that is on the
move for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as the Lord
addresses this church, he makes some promises to them. And
as you read on after the eighth verse, you see
the promises. He says, behold, I will make of them
of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews
(05:05):
and are not, but do lie behold. I will make
them to come and worship before thy feet, and to
know that I have loved Thee. Now this is an
interesting statement, because once again we meet these trouble making
Jews who are a part of the church and keep
popping their head out, and we keep finding them again.
If you go back to chapter two and verse nine,
(05:27):
you remember that when the Lord wrote to the church
in Smyrna, he said, I know thy works and tribulation
in poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the
blaspheme of them, which say they are Jews and are not,
but are of the Synagogue of Satan. Now Here in
the church in Philadelphia he mentions them again, but no
longer is he talking about tolerating them or not worrying
(05:48):
about them. Now the Lord promises to this church that
he will humiliate their enemies, and he says in verse nine,
I will make them come and work worship before thy feet,
and know that I have loved Thee. The Lord Jesus says,
and I'm not going to put up with that anymore.
In this church. We're going to take care of that problem,
(06:09):
and before you're finished, they're going to become people who
look to you for direction and for guidance. Someone has
pointed out that the apostle Paul and his situation is
a good illustration of this truth. He started out to
persecute the church, didn't he He was out trying to
kill them, put them in prison. In fact, he was
on his way on a persecution mission, on his way
(06:31):
to Damascus, when the Lord arrested him and wouldn't let
him arrest the Christians. And the next thing we know,
this persecutor has become a worshiper and the champion for
the cause of Jesus Christ. The Lord promises this church
that he will humiliate their enemies. Then, in the next
(06:53):
verse he makes a promise which has great prophetic ramifications.
In fact, he says, because as thou hast kept the
word of my patients, 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. Now,
(07:14):
please note as you read this verse that even though
this is a letter addressed to an individual church, it
is not a promise that has to do with regional persecution.
He is not saying to the church in Philadelphia, I'm
going to keep you from persecution that's going to come
in your vicinity. Look down in your bibles and notice
it says I will keep you from the hour of
(07:35):
temptation which shall come upon all the world. Notice secondly,
this is not a special hour of trial which is
going to come and go away and in which they
will be kept safe. This is a promise to the
Church of Philadelphia and to the church which is represented
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by this church in history, that the Lord God has
a special plan that will keep them from ever experiencing
the world wide tribulation, which we're going to study beginning
in the fourth chapter through the nineteenth chapter of this book.
You've probably heard of the discussion that goes on among
Christians about whether or not we are pre mid or
(08:19):
post right. Some of you have probably heard Tim Timmins's
response to that. He says, I'm pre tribulational until I'm
still here and the tribulation starts. Then I move rapidly
to a mid tribulational position.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
He said.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Then I hang on to that for three and a
half more years, and if I'm still around, I'm a
post trib absolutely confirmed. And then he made a disparaging
statement about prophecy, with which I do not agree. But
he said, if you really want to know what I am,
I'm pan trib I think it's all going to pan
out someday. Well, there's more to it than that, my friend.
You better know what you believe. There are three positions
(08:59):
about tribulation. One is that we're going to be raptured
out of here as Christians before the tribulation starts. The
other position is that there's going to be three and
a half years of tribulation and the Church will be
here for three and a half years. Then the Church
will be raptured in the middle of the tribulation. And
then the third position is that we're going to live
through the tribulation, and after the tribulation is over, then
(09:21):
we'll all be.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Raptured and go up with the Lord.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
And of course, if you believe in the post trib position,
you don't need a rapture because you can just wait
for the rest of everybody to go up. The rapture,
you see, is a special catching away of God's people
for himself. Now, I want you to notice carefully what
the Bible says. The Lord is addressing this letter to
(09:45):
the church in Philadelphia, the true Church of the Last Days.
And he says to the true believers, because thou hast
kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee
from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all
the worlds world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Now,
the phrase hour of temptation can be translated by the
(10:07):
words hour of testing, and is certainly a reference to
the tribulation period. Now Here is a promise that the
Lord gives to the Church, that he will deliver us
from the tribulation period. You remember in the Old Testament,
as we were studying the Book of Daniel, we studied
the story of Shadraq Mishak and the bed Nigau when
(10:27):
they were cast into the fiery furnace, and they were
preserved through the flames. They weren't kept from the flames,
were they They didn't have anybody show up right before
they were to be thrown into the furnace and saying listen,
we decided you don't have to go in there. They
were thrown into the furnace, but they were preserved through
the furnace, and one like under the Son of God
(10:49):
was there preserving them. Now, there are some people that
teach that the Church is like Shadraq Mishak and the Bednigau,
that we're going to go through the flames of persecution
and God's just going to keep heep safe in the
midst of it. But I want you to notice what
the Bible says. The Bible does not say I will
keep you through the hour of testing. The Bible says
I will keep you from the hour of testing, and
(11:12):
the word means I will keep you clear away from it.
You won't be in it, you won't be near it,
you will be kept clear away from it. You are
not going to go through the tribulation. You just need
to know that we're pre tribulational. And that's one of
the reasons we believe the Bible teaches that the Church
will never go through the tribulation. You say, pastor what
(11:33):
do you call what I'm going through right now? I'm
talking about worldwide tribulation that is going to try this earth.
Some have said that the Church will be preserved through
the tribulation. But he said, I will keep you from
the time or from the very hour of the tribulation,
and the method of keeping from the hour is by
(11:53):
removing us from the sphere in which the testing would
take place.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Here we have a clear.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Promise to the Church that he would keep her away
from the time when the tribulation would come upon the world.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
Now, there's an interesting thing.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
About the Book of Revelation that you ought to know.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
The word church is found in chapters one through three.
The word church is found nineteen times, nineteen times.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
But after you get to chapter four, where the tribulation starts,
the Church is not mentioned once as being on the earth,
not once. Just isn't there if we are going to
go through the tribulation, my friends, why in that most
important section of scripture that details the revelation of tribulation.
And if you're ready for this, I hope you are.
When we get into chapters four through nineteen, you're going
(12:42):
to see the awfulness of that tribulation. Do you think
the Lord would let us go into that kind of
suffering without preparing us and helping us to understand what
we are to expect.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
But throughout all of those.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Chapters there is not one reference to the Church being
on the earth. The Church is in heaven. The Church
is in heaven. At the judgment seat of Christ being
judged for the works done in the flesh, while here
on the earth and the world is in turmoil. You say,
Pastor Jeremiah, you just believe that because you want to
(13:16):
believe it. No, I do want to believe it because
it's true, and I believe that's what the Bible teaches.
Let me give you another little thought that I hadn't
thought of before.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
It's very important.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
If you'll look in the fourth chapter, chapter four of
the book, you'll notice that around the throne were four
and twenty seats. This is in heaven. Now, this is
the first heavenly scene. We've been on earth. Now we've
been transported to heaven. Chapter four is a heavenly scene.
And around the throne were four and twenty seats. And
on the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting
(13:50):
clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads
crowns of gold. Chapter four and verse four. And there
are many who believe Eve that these who are seated
are representatives of the Church in many respects, And because
of that, they are representing the Church in heaven. And
the Church is in heaven. While the tribulation is going
(14:11):
on on the earth. I don't believe there's any reason
for us to believe that the Church will go through
the tribulation.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
Here's the thought.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Do you think the Lord would be unfair to any
section of his body? Let me ask you this, is
there any place in the Bible where we can look
and find that those who have died as Christians are
going to be resurrected so they can go through the
tribulation And nobody's going to get special.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Treatment in the church.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
I'll tell you what, if I believe the Church is
going to go through the tribulation, I'd want to die
as reasonably soon as I could if I thought it
was coming. I would rather go home by death than
through the tribulation. And of course, the Church is the
body of Christ, and we're not going to have a
dismembered body. God is going to have part of the
body in the tribulation, and part of it, not all
(15:00):
of the body is going to be caught up. And
that's why, first Thessalonians for such a beautiful picture of unity.
Then those of us who are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with those who have been resurrected
out of the grave, and together we shall all be
escorted into the presence of God.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
There's no special place for those who have died, in
a special turmoil for those who happen to be alive.
The Bible says that when we accept Jesus Christ, we
have passed from death onto life. And listen to this now,
there is therefore now no condemnation to.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Them that are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
And if you read about the tribulation, you can only
put one word across the title of it.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It is condemnation personified.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Now, I didn't mean to get all revved up about
the pre tribulational rapture, but I rather suspect there's a
lot of you folks here who know you are one,
but you're not sure why. Now, I just thought i'd
give you a little reasoning so that you understand why.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
We believe what we believe.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Well, the Lord said to the church in Philadelphia, I
want to make a promise to you. The promise is
you will be kept from the hour of trial. Now,
the Lord goes on in the rest of this letter
and promises them, thirdly that he is going to come quickly,
he says.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
I am going to come quickly.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I am going to keep you from the hour of
temptation which shall come upon all the world. Behold, I
come quickly. Those two promises go together. Hold that fast
which thou hast that no man take thy crown him
that overcometh. I will make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out.
And I will write upon him the name of my God,
(16:44):
in the name of the City of my God, which
is in New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven
from my God. And I will write upon him my
new name. These promises wonderful promises, the Lord says he's
going to do for his church. I'm going to stop
right now and just try to help you understand what
(17:05):
this letter means to us, what it means to me.
We are, in my estimation, more like the Church of
Philadelphia than any church we're going to study now. I
know we've got some Ephesian Christians here. You've abandoned your
first love. I know that we got some Smyrnian Christians here.
You've been persecuted for your faith. We've probably got some
(17:26):
Sardian Christians here. You're just flat dead. But we have
some Philadelphia Christians here. You're people who love the Lord
and you want to serve God. First of all, he
calls this the church of opportunity. He says, this church
is the church of an open door. I've had people
(17:46):
ask me, pastor, why are you here, Why are you
preaching in this church? Why do you spend your life
in this ministry. I'll tell you why, because I believe
in the future of this ministry. Their places where I
could go, probably and talk to more people, and maybe
where you wouldn't have the baggage that some people say
is baggage of a college and all the rest of it.
(18:09):
But I believe in what God has put together because
this is one of the biggest open doors I know
about any.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Place in the world.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
And then I go on and I read the second characteristic,
and boy do identify with that thou hast little strength.
Nothing is more in conflict, in my estimation, than a big,
wide open door with great opportunities and little strength.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Doesn't that scare you?
Speaker 4 (18:40):
We often talk, for instance, about how the church is
supported financially by twenty percent of the people, or whatever
the number is. I know it's not nearly what it
should be, and yet the church goes on because there's
a little strength. There are people who believe in God
and are faithful to the Word and don't mind sacrificing
because they believe that this is an open door.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Little strength.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Sometimes I think God puts us in places like this
with great, big responsibilities and a sense of very little
strength to remind us of our total dependence upon God.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
You know, it's more and more impressed upon me in.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
These days that this great, big door of opportunity that
God has given us is not going to be opened
by our own personal shoving and pushing and banging and
all of the things we try to do to make
it happen. It's only going to take place when we
recognize our little strength and get on our knees before
God and call upon his big power to make the
door open so we can see God's work. We have
(19:43):
a great opportunity, but folks, we don't have enough strength.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
We just don't. Do you know that?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Do you ever feel that some of you folks who
are part of the core that are doing ten jobs
and you're trying to do all the things that you
know need to be done, and you feel sapped because
you just worn out trying to maintain the open door.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
But realizing how feeble we are.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
I want to tell you some people, the only way
we're going to get the strength we need to man
the opportunity God has given us is through prayer.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
There is no other answer.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I wonder sometimes, when we look at what God has
done for us, how many of us really truly pray?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I wonder how.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Many of us are condemned When we hear Our Lord's
word to his disciples, and he says, could you not
watch with me one hour? Then I look on down
at the list of characteristics, and I identify with this
the word of God. Says I want to commend you
because you have an open door, and you have little strength,
(20:43):
and you have kept my word. You know, I love
the word of God, and I love to preach it.
And I thank God that at this particular point in
time in our ministry we have kept the word of God.
Gone off to do something else. We have kept the
word of God. And then he adds, and you have
(21:05):
not denied my name. We are not involved in false doctrine.
We have stayed by the book. People come to church
here and they are aware of the fact immediately when
they come. There's one textbook, and that's the Bible. We
open it up and we take what it says, verse
by verse. It's not because I'm a great teacher or
eloquent or master of pedagogy, but I've had people ask
(21:26):
me oftentimes, how do you explain somebody who may not
even be walking with God? And he preaches and people
get saved. And I'll tell you how God has promised
to bless his word. He's even elevated his word above
his name. And when the word of God has preached,
God honors it and he blesses it. And when Bible
doctrine is taught, and when truth is kept, God is honored.
(21:49):
But I want you to note the tension in these truths.
Here's the tension keeping the word, not denying the name.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
And the great opportunity.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
You know, there are a lot of churches like the
church in Sardis that had all of the same things
that we have, and perhaps even an open door, but
they wouldn't walk through it. And because they wouldn't walk
through the open door, the church died. It's not enough
to have the word of God. It's not enough to
(22:25):
believe the truth. It's not enough to have doctrine so
that you know what you believe in. Why if you
have all of that, but the opportunity is there and
you're not ready to accept that opportunity for God, the
church will die. Because the thing that will kill a
church is if it becomes an inbred group of people
who just sit around and talk about their prophetic understanding
and their knowledge of doctrine, but they never go through
(22:47):
the open door to reach the regions beyond to which
they alone are a key.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
And I am frightened.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
That if God gives us the opportunity to move forward
by his grace and take new territory, that if if
we don't take it, it won't make any difference how
true we are to the Word of God and how
true we are to the doctrine of God's word. If
we are not visionaries to go out and claim new
territory on the mission field and here at home, we
will be like the church that preceded the Church of Philadelphia.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
We will die too.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I want to have the exuberance and excitement of one
old Southern preacher that I heard on tape some years ago,
who expressed his dynamic ministry and what his goal was
in life. By saying this, he said, it's time for
our church to wake up and sing up, and preach up,
and pray up and pay up and never give up
(23:39):
or let up or back up or shut up till
the church is.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Built up or we go up. Amen.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
And that's what I want. And by the grace of God,
that can happen.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
We should put that on our desk under the glass
so that we never forget what our goal is. Well,
thank you so much for joining us today. We have
one more lesson this month from the Book of Revelation,
and that is on the disgusting Church of Leadicea, a
church that's quite well known. It's the church that will
(24:11):
be on the earth when Jesus comes back at the
time of the rapture, and many people think that we
are in the early stages of the leadesta In church.
We'll talk about that tomorrow right here on Turning Point,
and I hope you'll join us.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Don't forget.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
You can get a copy of Escape the Coming Night,
the two hundred and ninety page contemporary commentary on the
Book of Revelation. Every one of you should have this.
It's a great resource and you can have it for
a gift of any size during this month to help
us continue to share the word of God around the world.
Ask for your copy when you send your gift today,
(24:46):
and don't forget to join us tomorrow right here on
this good station.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Our message today came you from Shadow Mountain Community Church
and senior past doctor David Jeremiah. What is God doing
in your life as a result of this ministry? Write
and tell us at Turning Point PO Box thirty eight
thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine two one sixty three.
Visit our website at David Jeremiah dot org, Slash Radio,
(25:17):
or call eight hundred ninety four seven nineteen ninety three
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(25:39):
To access our content, visit Davidjeremiah dot org slash radio
for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow
as we continue the series Escape the Coming Night on
turning point with doctor David Jeremiah
No church is perfect, but the ancient Church of Philadelphia
probably came close. Today on turning point, doctor David Jeremiah
takes us back to the church that drew only positive
comments from Christ. As we'll see, the incredible love of
these early Christians is matched only by the incredible promises
(00:25):
Jesus makes to them. To conclude his message, the Faithful
Church Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Here's David.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, throughout the Bible, there are mountaintop places, there are
special passages that we look to, and I'm in the
midst of studying and teaching one of those passages right
now as we talk about the Faithful Church of Philadelphia.
From the seven churches that received letters from the Lord
Jesus penned by John from the Isle of Patmos. This
(00:54):
church represents one of the best periods of time in
the history of the Church, and you and I have
lived through that. I believe we may be coming to
the end of it. But the Church of Philadelphia has
been a time of great outreach with the Gospel around
the world, and continues to do so even today. We'll
(01:14):
get to that in just a moment, but first, just
a couple of announcements to keep you up to date.
You may be wondering where you can get outlines of
all of these messages on Revelation, and the best place
to find those is in the set of study guides
that we produced with every outline and all of the
information that you're hearing every day on the radio. From
(01:35):
the first chapter to the last chapter. There are four
study guides that will take you through the Book of Revelation.
You can find these at David Jeremiah dot org. When
they come to you, you can devour them. You can
use them to teach, to preach, to study, whatever you
need to do. But these study guides will help you
(01:57):
wrap your arms around The Book of Revelation wants you
to know about them. You can get them again from
David Jeremiah dot org, and you should do so today.
Well here's part two of the Faithful Church of Philadelphia.
These verses are Revelation three seventh to thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Let's begin.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
You know, you don't usually feel complimented if somebody says
you have a little strength, but that's what the Lord says.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
In the eighth verse.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
He says, I want to compliments you that not only
do you have an open door and no man can
shut it, but thou hast a little strength. And that
term in the original language actually carries the thought of
but little strength. In other words, it is not that
the church still has a little strength and then thus
can function to some degree. Rather, what the Lord is
(02:49):
saying is that it has but little strength in itself,
so that the source of its power must ultimately depend
upon the Lord. The Lord alone opens the door, and
the Lord alone gives the increase. And if you have
a little strength and it's his, you're okay. It's when
you have big strength and it's yours that you're in trouble.
(03:11):
It's when you're depending on your buildings and your budgets
and your staff and all of your ideas and your
organizational plan and your outreach and all of the rest.
And the strength is not in the Lord, but it's
in you. They had a little strength. They were not
much if you looked at him from the outside, but
(03:32):
they were mighty in the hands of God. And then
he commends them. Thirdly, because they had kept the word. Notice,
as you read the eighth verse, he says, you have
kept my word in the midst of the denial of
the scriptures. This church to believed the Bible to be authoritative,
and they kept the word of God. And the fourth
(03:55):
compliment that he gives to them is that they have
not denied the Lord notice at the end of the verse,
and has not denied my name. Having to do with
the great controversy that was going on in that period
of time concerning the deity of Jesus Christ, the Christians
in Philadelphia had stood up strong and said, we believe
(04:15):
Jesus Christ is the Lord God, and we have not
denied his name. By the way, more than a few
church growth experts have said that the four characteristics of
this church are usually found in churches that are having
a vibrant testimony for Jesus Christ. A door of opportunity
opened by God, a sense of their own powerlessness apart
(04:36):
from Christ, a commitment to the Word of God, and
absolute integrity as it relates to doctrine.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
When those things are.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
There, oftentimes you see a church that is on the
move for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as the Lord
addresses this church, he makes some promises to them. And
as you read on after the eighth verse, you see
the promises. He says, behold, I will make of them
of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews
(05:05):
and are not, but do lie behold. I will make
them to come and worship before thy feet, and to
know that I have loved Thee. Now this is an
interesting statement, because once again we meet these trouble making
Jews who are a part of the church and keep
popping their head out, and we keep finding them again.
If you go back to chapter two and verse nine,
(05:27):
you remember that when the Lord wrote to the church
in Smyrna, he said, I know thy works and tribulation
in poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the
blaspheme of them, which say they are Jews and are not,
but are of the Synagogue of Satan. Now Here in
the church in Philadelphia he mentions them again, but no
longer is he talking about tolerating them or not worrying
(05:48):
about them. Now the Lord promises to this church that
he will humiliate their enemies, and he says in verse nine,
I will make them come and work worship before thy feet,
and know that I have loved Thee. The Lord Jesus says,
and I'm not going to put up with that anymore.
In this church. We're going to take care of that problem,
(06:09):
and before you're finished, they're going to become people who
look to you for direction and for guidance. Someone has
pointed out that the apostle Paul and his situation is
a good illustration of this truth. He started out to
persecute the church, didn't he He was out trying to
kill them, put them in prison. In fact, he was
on his way on a persecution mission, on his way
(06:31):
to Damascus, when the Lord arrested him and wouldn't let
him arrest the Christians. And the next thing we know,
this persecutor has become a worshiper and the champion for
the cause of Jesus Christ. The Lord promises this church
that he will humiliate their enemies. Then, in the next
(06:53):
verse he makes a promise which has great prophetic ramifications.
In fact, he says, because as thou hast kept the
word of my patients, 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. Now,
(07:14):
please note as you read this verse that even though
this is a letter addressed to an individual church, it
is not a promise that has to do with regional persecution.
He is not saying to the church in Philadelphia, I'm
going to keep you from persecution that's going to come
in your vicinity. Look down in your bibles and notice
it says I will keep you from the hour of
(07:35):
temptation which shall come upon all the world. Notice secondly,
this is not a special hour of trial which is
going to come and go away and in which they
will be kept safe. This is a promise to the
Church of Philadelphia and to the church which is represented
(07:55):
by this church in history, that the Lord God has
a special plan that will keep them from ever experiencing
the world wide tribulation, which we're going to study beginning
in the fourth chapter through the nineteenth chapter of this book.
You've probably heard of the discussion that goes on among
Christians about whether or not we are pre mid or
(08:19):
post right. Some of you have probably heard Tim Timmins's
response to that. He says, I'm pre tribulational until I'm
still here and the tribulation starts. Then I move rapidly
to a mid tribulational position.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
He said.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Then I hang on to that for three and a
half more years, and if I'm still around, I'm a
post trib absolutely confirmed. And then he made a disparaging
statement about prophecy, with which I do not agree. But
he said, if you really want to know what I am,
I'm pan trib I think it's all going to pan
out someday. Well, there's more to it than that, my friend.
You better know what you believe. There are three positions
(08:59):
about tribulation. One is that we're going to be raptured
out of here as Christians before the tribulation starts. The
other position is that there's going to be three and
a half years of tribulation and the Church will be
here for three and a half years. Then the Church
will be raptured in the middle of the tribulation. And
then the third position is that we're going to live
through the tribulation, and after the tribulation is over, then
(09:21):
we'll all be.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Raptured and go up with the Lord.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
And of course, if you believe in the post trib position,
you don't need a rapture because you can just wait
for the rest of everybody to go up. The rapture,
you see, is a special catching away of God's people
for himself. Now, I want you to notice carefully what
the Bible says. The Lord is addressing this letter to
(09:45):
the church in Philadelphia, the true Church of the Last Days.
And he says to the true believers, because thou hast
kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee
from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all
the worlds world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Now,
the phrase hour of temptation can be translated by the
(10:07):
words hour of testing, and is certainly a reference to
the tribulation period. Now Here is a promise that the
Lord gives to the Church, that he will deliver us
from the tribulation period. You remember in the Old Testament,
as we were studying the Book of Daniel, we studied
the story of Shadraq Mishak and the bed Nigau when
(10:27):
they were cast into the fiery furnace, and they were
preserved through the flames. They weren't kept from the flames,
were they They didn't have anybody show up right before
they were to be thrown into the furnace and saying listen,
we decided you don't have to go in there. They
were thrown into the furnace, but they were preserved through
the furnace, and one like under the Son of God
(10:49):
was there preserving them. Now, there are some people that
teach that the Church is like Shadraq Mishak and the Bednigau,
that we're going to go through the flames of persecution
and God's just going to keep heep safe in the
midst of it. But I want you to notice what
the Bible says. The Bible does not say I will
keep you through the hour of testing. The Bible says
I will keep you from the hour of testing, and
(11:12):
the word means I will keep you clear away from it.
You won't be in it, you won't be near it,
you will be kept clear away from it. You are
not going to go through the tribulation. You just need
to know that we're pre tribulational. And that's one of
the reasons we believe the Bible teaches that the Church
will never go through the tribulation. You say, pastor what
(11:33):
do you call what I'm going through right now? I'm
talking about worldwide tribulation that is going to try this earth.
Some have said that the Church will be preserved through
the tribulation. But he said, I will keep you from
the time or from the very hour of the tribulation,
and the method of keeping from the hour is by
(11:53):
removing us from the sphere in which the testing would
take place.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Here we have a clear.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Promise to the Church that he would keep her away
from the time when the tribulation would come upon the world.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
Now, there's an interesting thing.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
About the Book of Revelation that you ought to know.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
The word church is found in chapters one through three.
The word church is found nineteen times, nineteen times.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
But after you get to chapter four, where the tribulation starts,
the Church is not mentioned once as being on the earth,
not once. Just isn't there if we are going to
go through the tribulation, my friends, why in that most
important section of scripture that details the revelation of tribulation.
And if you're ready for this, I hope you are.
When we get into chapters four through nineteen, you're going
(12:42):
to see the awfulness of that tribulation. Do you think
the Lord would let us go into that kind of
suffering without preparing us and helping us to understand what
we are to expect.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
But throughout all of those.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Chapters there is not one reference to the Church being
on the earth. The Church is in heaven. The Church
is in heaven. At the judgment seat of Christ being
judged for the works done in the flesh, while here
on the earth and the world is in turmoil. You say,
Pastor Jeremiah, you just believe that because you want to
(13:16):
believe it. No, I do want to believe it because
it's true, and I believe that's what the Bible teaches.
Let me give you another little thought that I hadn't
thought of before.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
It's very important.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
If you'll look in the fourth chapter, chapter four of
the book, you'll notice that around the throne were four
and twenty seats. This is in heaven. Now, this is
the first heavenly scene. We've been on earth. Now we've
been transported to heaven. Chapter four is a heavenly scene.
And around the throne were four and twenty seats. And
on the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting
(13:50):
clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads
crowns of gold. Chapter four and verse four. And there
are many who believe Eve that these who are seated
are representatives of the Church in many respects, And because
of that, they are representing the Church in heaven. And
the Church is in heaven. While the tribulation is going
(14:11):
on on the earth. I don't believe there's any reason
for us to believe that the Church will go through
the tribulation.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
Here's the thought.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Do you think the Lord would be unfair to any
section of his body? Let me ask you this, is
there any place in the Bible where we can look
and find that those who have died as Christians are
going to be resurrected so they can go through the
tribulation And nobody's going to get special.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Treatment in the church.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
I'll tell you what, if I believe the Church is
going to go through the tribulation, I'd want to die
as reasonably soon as I could if I thought it
was coming. I would rather go home by death than
through the tribulation. And of course, the Church is the
body of Christ, and we're not going to have a
dismembered body. God is going to have part of the
body in the tribulation, and part of it, not all
(15:00):
of the body is going to be caught up. And
that's why, first Thessalonians for such a beautiful picture of unity.
Then those of us who are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with those who have been resurrected
out of the grave, and together we shall all be
escorted into the presence of God.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
There's no special place for those who have died, in
a special turmoil for those who happen to be alive.
The Bible says that when we accept Jesus Christ, we
have passed from death onto life. And listen to this now,
there is therefore now no condemnation to.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Them that are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
And if you read about the tribulation, you can only
put one word across the title of it.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It is condemnation personified.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Now, I didn't mean to get all revved up about
the pre tribulational rapture, but I rather suspect there's a
lot of you folks here who know you are one,
but you're not sure why. Now, I just thought i'd
give you a little reasoning so that you understand why.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
We believe what we believe.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Well, the Lord said to the church in Philadelphia, I
want to make a promise to you. The promise is
you will be kept from the hour of trial. Now,
the Lord goes on in the rest of this letter
and promises them, thirdly that he is going to come quickly,
he says.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
I am going to come quickly.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I am going to keep you from the hour of
temptation which shall come upon all the world. Behold, I
come quickly. Those two promises go together. Hold that fast
which thou hast that no man take thy crown him
that overcometh. I will make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out.
And I will write upon him the name of my God,
(16:44):
in the name of the City of my God, which
is in New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven
from my God. And I will write upon him my
new name. These promises wonderful promises, the Lord says he's
going to do for his church. I'm going to stop
right now and just try to help you understand what
(17:05):
this letter means to us, what it means to me.
We are, in my estimation, more like the Church of
Philadelphia than any church we're going to study now. I
know we've got some Ephesian Christians here. You've abandoned your
first love. I know that we got some Smyrnian Christians here.
You've been persecuted for your faith. We've probably got some
(17:26):
Sardian Christians here. You're just flat dead. But we have
some Philadelphia Christians here. You're people who love the Lord
and you want to serve God. First of all, he
calls this the church of opportunity. He says, this church
is the church of an open door. I've had people
(17:46):
ask me, pastor, why are you here, Why are you
preaching in this church? Why do you spend your life
in this ministry. I'll tell you why, because I believe
in the future of this ministry. Their places where I
could go, probably and talk to more people, and maybe
where you wouldn't have the baggage that some people say
is baggage of a college and all the rest of it.
(18:09):
But I believe in what God has put together because
this is one of the biggest open doors I know
about any.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Place in the world.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
And then I go on and I read the second characteristic,
and boy do identify with that thou hast little strength.
Nothing is more in conflict, in my estimation, than a big,
wide open door with great opportunities and little strength.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Doesn't that scare you?
Speaker 4 (18:40):
We often talk, for instance, about how the church is
supported financially by twenty percent of the people, or whatever
the number is. I know it's not nearly what it
should be, and yet the church goes on because there's
a little strength. There are people who believe in God
and are faithful to the Word and don't mind sacrificing
because they believe that this is an open door.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Little strength.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Sometimes I think God puts us in places like this
with great, big responsibilities and a sense of very little
strength to remind us of our total dependence upon God.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
You know, it's more and more impressed upon me in.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
These days that this great, big door of opportunity that
God has given us is not going to be opened
by our own personal shoving and pushing and banging and
all of the things we try to do to make
it happen. It's only going to take place when we
recognize our little strength and get on our knees before
God and call upon his big power to make the
door open so we can see God's work. We have
(19:43):
a great opportunity, but folks, we don't have enough strength.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
We just don't. Do you know that?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Do you ever feel that some of you folks who
are part of the core that are doing ten jobs
and you're trying to do all the things that you
know need to be done, and you feel sapped because
you just worn out trying to maintain the open door.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
But realizing how feeble we are.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
I want to tell you some people, the only way
we're going to get the strength we need to man
the opportunity God has given us is through prayer.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
There is no other answer.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I wonder sometimes, when we look at what God has
done for us, how many of us really truly pray?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I wonder how.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Many of us are condemned When we hear Our Lord's
word to his disciples, and he says, could you not
watch with me one hour? Then I look on down
at the list of characteristics, and I identify with this
the word of God. Says I want to commend you
because you have an open door, and you have little strength,
(20:43):
and you have kept my word. You know, I love
the word of God, and I love to preach it.
And I thank God that at this particular point in
time in our ministry we have kept the word of God.
Gone off to do something else. We have kept the
word of God. And then he adds, and you have
(21:05):
not denied my name. We are not involved in false doctrine.
We have stayed by the book. People come to church
here and they are aware of the fact immediately when
they come. There's one textbook, and that's the Bible. We
open it up and we take what it says, verse
by verse. It's not because I'm a great teacher or
eloquent or master of pedagogy, but I've had people ask
(21:26):
me oftentimes, how do you explain somebody who may not
even be walking with God? And he preaches and people
get saved. And I'll tell you how God has promised
to bless his word. He's even elevated his word above
his name. And when the word of God has preached,
God honors it and he blesses it. And when Bible
doctrine is taught, and when truth is kept, God is honored.
(21:49):
But I want you to note the tension in these truths.
Here's the tension keeping the word, not denying the name.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
And the great opportunity.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
You know, there are a lot of churches like the
church in Sardis that had all of the same things
that we have, and perhaps even an open door, but
they wouldn't walk through it. And because they wouldn't walk
through the open door, the church died. It's not enough
to have the word of God. It's not enough to
(22:25):
believe the truth. It's not enough to have doctrine so
that you know what you believe in. Why if you
have all of that, but the opportunity is there and
you're not ready to accept that opportunity for God, the
church will die. Because the thing that will kill a
church is if it becomes an inbred group of people
who just sit around and talk about their prophetic understanding
and their knowledge of doctrine, but they never go through
(22:47):
the open door to reach the regions beyond to which
they alone are a key.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
And I am frightened.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
That if God gives us the opportunity to move forward
by his grace and take new territory, that if if
we don't take it, it won't make any difference how
true we are to the Word of God and how
true we are to the doctrine of God's word. If
we are not visionaries to go out and claim new
territory on the mission field and here at home, we
will be like the church that preceded the Church of Philadelphia.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
We will die too.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I want to have the exuberance and excitement of one
old Southern preacher that I heard on tape some years ago,
who expressed his dynamic ministry and what his goal was
in life. By saying this, he said, it's time for
our church to wake up and sing up, and preach up,
and pray up and pay up and never give up
(23:39):
or let up or back up or shut up till
the church is.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Built up or we go up. Amen.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
And that's what I want. And by the grace of God,
that can happen.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
We should put that on our desk under the glass
so that we never forget what our goal is. Well,
thank you so much for joining us today. We have
one more lesson this month from the Book of Revelation,
and that is on the disgusting Church of Leadicea, a
church that's quite well known. It's the church that will
(24:11):
be on the earth when Jesus comes back at the
time of the rapture, and many people think that we
are in the early stages of the leadesta In church.
We'll talk about that tomorrow right here on Turning Point,
and I hope you'll join us.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Don't forget.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
You can get a copy of Escape the Coming Night,
the two hundred and ninety page contemporary commentary on the
Book of Revelation. Every one of you should have this.
It's a great resource and you can have it for
a gift of any size during this month to help
us continue to share the word of God around the world.
Ask for your copy when you send your gift today,
(24:46):
and don't forget to join us tomorrow right here on
this good station.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Our message today came you from Shadow Mountain Community Church
and senior past doctor David Jeremiah. What is God doing
in your life as a result of this ministry? Write
and tell us at Turning Point PO Box thirty eight
thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine two one sixty three.
Visit our website at David Jeremiah dot org, Slash Radio,
(25:17):
or call eight hundred ninety four seven nineteen ninety three
ask for your copy of David's best selling in depth
book on revelation, Escape the Coming Night. It's yours for
a gift of any amount. You can also download the
free Turning Point mobile app for your smartphone or tablet,
or search in your app store for Turning Point ministries.
(25:39):
To access our content, visit Davidjeremiah dot org slash radio
for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow
as we continue the series Escape the Coming Night on
turning point with doctor David Jeremiah
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