Facing the Consequences
of Dividing Israel
 















Page date  August, 2001
Updated  June 2007










  

Letter to the church in Philadelphia, the GOOD Church
Revelation Chapter 3  verses 7 thru 13

One prophetic person believes Philadelphia and Laodicea
are placed TOGETHER in time, and we now live here.

PHILADELPHIA CAPSULE: 
Jesus has the key of David. What He opens, no one can shut;
what He shuts no one can open. I have placed before you an
open door no one can shut. I know you have little strength,
yet you have kept my word and not denied My Name,
so I will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to
come on the whole world.


PHILADELPHA in JORDAN
The Church of Philadelphia in Bible times was in Jordan
See the rise of the hashemite kingdom posted in ZionsCRY

There is plenty of evidence indicating Amman, Jordan
was named Philadelphia during the time of the Apostles.
Some say it is the Philadelphia mentioned in Revelation.
However there is too much disagreement as to
whether it is THE Philadelphia.


To the angel of the church in PHILADELPHIA write
These are the words of Him who is holy & true, who holds
the key of David. What He opens, no one can shut;
what He shuts, no one can open.

PHILADELPHIA
Revelation 3:7-13

7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts
and no one opens, says this:

8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you
an open door which no one can shut, because you
have a little power, and have kept My word,
and have not denied My name.


SYNAGOGUE of SATAN

9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan,
who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie;
I will make them come and bow down at your feet,
and make them know that I have loved you.

10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance,
I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour
which is about to come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell on the earth.

11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have,
so that no one will take your crown.

12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore;
and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name
of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes
down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churchs.

Revelation 3:7-13   LISTEN!!!!
 
MESSAGE to PHILADELPHIA
Revelation 3:7-10 

  

Philadelphia was founded as a border town to spread Greek
culture to surrounding areas. The church knew what it meant
to be missionary minded, to have an open door for the
spread of the gospel.

Philadelphia means brotherly love. The church name gave the
believers a constant reminder, they must love one another
if they were going to fulfill their missionary calling.

Philadelphia knew what it was to live in the midst of insecure
surroundings and under constant stress and strain. The city sat
over a large earthquake fault. In AD17 a terrifying earthquake
hit a huge area. It completely destroyed Sardis and 10 other
cities. Philadelphia was spared total destruction. But for years
it was constantly being hit by tremors, crumbling the walls to
complete destruction. The experience of having to constantly run
in and out of safety terrorized the population. Philadelphia after
its destruction by the earthquake, was given aid by the emperor
Tiberius for rebuilding. In appreciation the city changed its name
to Neocaesarea, the New City of Caesar. Philadelphia has a Jewish
synagogue within its city limits. The Jews claimed to be the only
followers of the true God. They claimed the keys of David, the
right open and to shut the door to God and His kingdom.

Have you ever seen a church that was so alive & faithful to
Christ? A church that focuses on Jesus Christ? A church that
focuses upon reaching and growing people for Christ? A church
that focuses upon teaching people to love Christ & to love one
another more and more? Have you ever seen that type of church?

This was the church at Philadelphia. The believers at
Philadelphia loved Christ. They lived like Christ said to live
and they carried out the mission of Christ upon earth.
The church was alive and faithful. It represents all the
churches down through the ages that are alive and faithful.
There is no complaint or against this church. Christ has
only praise and exhortation for the church that is
alive and faithful.

Verse 7
Once again the letter is addressed to the minister of the
church, and he is expected to share it with the church.
The speaker is the Lord Jesus Christ. What Jesus says
about himself speaks to the heart of the church that is
alive and faithful. There are 3 things in this verse.
Let1s look at them!

1. Jesus Christ is holy. Jesus being diving shares the holiness
of God the Father. Jesus claims here to have the same nature
as God the Father. Holiness means to be set apart and
different from all other beings.

2. Jesus is the one who is true. He is genuine and not a
counterfeit. He is the only living and true God. God is not far
off somewhere out in space, too far off to be known and
reached. God has not left us in the dark to grope and grasp
and to stumble about trying to find Him. The faithful church
must continue to follow Christ, continue to make Him the
focus of all that it does.

3. Jesus Christ alone is the key of David, the key that
opens, and no man shuts, and shuts, and no man opens.

 
What is the KEY of David?



The key of David is the symbol of authority. Christ alone opens
and shuts the door into God's court and presence. He alone
determines who lives in heaven with God the Father. He alone
grants entrance into the presence of God. The door into heaven
is opened and closed by him and Him alone. Jesus Christ alone
holds the key to open and shut the door to life eternal.

The church that takes all its ministries, activities, meetings
and makes Jesus Christ the center of them all shall live
forever. When did he start exercising this authority?
When he commissioned the church and began working with them.

Verse 8
This verse right here is the commendation that Christ gives
this church. This is the picture of what a church should be.
Once again he commends this church for three things.

1. The church used the open door of evangelism and missions to
reach people for Christ. It was a border town and touched the
borders of Lydia, Mysia, Phrygia. They had plenty of mission
and evangelistic opportunities. It was built on a major road
that stretched east on into Asia minor. Businessmen, sales
people, military people, tourists etc. all had to pass thru
this town.  What an opportunity!

Christ commends them for the evangelic and missionary work.
They were reaching out. Christ knew their works. He had set an
open door before them and they had stepped in and taken
advantage of the opportunity. Because they had faithfully
reached out to the lost, Christ says that He was not going to
let anyone close the door. He was going to make sure the door
to evangelism and missions stayed open. They had one small
problem, though, the church had only a little strength.

What do you think that means?

Most likely it means that they were a small church, small in
number & small in resources, which also may have meant that they
had very little spiritual power, but they were the most faithful

Imagine being just a small church, yet reaching out to the lost,
witnessing and bearing testimony to the salvation and hope of
eternal life. Imagine making such evangelistic and mission
thrusts that Christ is so impressed that he commends the church
for it. And he also guarantees the open door to evangelism and
missions will always remain open. What we are seeing here is the
first mission of a church is to reach out to the lost.

I want to insert a thought here: How many of our churches are
strategically located? Most are.  Some sit right in the heart
of cities where thousands of people live. Others sit on the
main roads of cities, and others on the main roads of country
land farm areas.

Why then are so many of our churches not reaching out in
evangelism and missions? Why are so few of the lost being won
to Christ? The church that is alive and faithful is a church
that used the open door of evangelism and missions. The
believers are a people who witness and do all they can to reach
the lost for Christ.

They go house to house. They witness to fellow workers,
neighbors, friends, and family. They are always looking for
opportunities to witness and share Christ.

2. They were faithful to the Word of God. They lived the Word
of God, they studied the Word of God, and proclaimed the Word
of God to believers and unbelievers alike.

3. They did not deny the name of Christ. They confessed
Christ. They confessed Christ in all they did. In their lives
their services, ministries, programs, and activities of the
church. They did not focus on ritual, ceremony, but focused on
Jesus Christ. A church that is faithful and alive will not
deny the name of Christ.  Matthew 10:32-33

The world does all they can to lead the true believer to give
in and join them.  But a believer must never cave in and deny
Christ. We who are alive and faithful will not deny the name
of Christ!

Verse 9
The synagogue of satan refers to the Jews who say that they
follow the true God, but they do not, they reject Jesus Christ.
Jesus didn1t recognize them as true Jews, even though they
claimed to be.  They were like the Pharisees that opposed Jesus,
they were of their father the devil. We see Jesus coming to his
people but as the scriptures says;  He came unto his own, and
his own received him not. John 8:39-45 -  John 1:11

He says I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,
indicating these Jews would bow down and worship prostrating
themselves before Christians. Stanley Horton in his book
Ultimate Victory says it seems more likely that the bowing and
recognition of Christ1s love for his people will come as a
result of a revival move of God1s spirit. It may be that such
a revival occurred shortly after the Book of Revelation was
written, or it may be that this is a promise to be fulfilled
when Jews as a who accept Christ as their Messiah and Saviour
at His second coming.

Verse 10
The Philadelphia believers had "kept the Word" or teaching about
the patient endurance of Christ. They kept looking to Jesus as
the author and finisher of our faith. Christ1s promise to
deliver the faithful in Philadelphia from the hour of trial is
identical to Paul1s promise to the Thessalonians that they
would be delivered from the wrath to come. 1 Thess. 1:10
It extend to all of God1s faithful throughout the ages.

This hour of temptation includes the divinely appointed time of
trial, wrath, and tribulation that will come on "all the World"
in the last years of this age, just prior to the establishment
of Christ1s kingdom on earth. This time of trial is speaking of
the wrath of God on the ungodly. 

Read Isaiah 13:6-13 - These verses have to do with the
destruction of Babylon, but they are a type of the end time
destruction of God1s enemies and final judgment to come over
all the earth during the tribulation.

Read Daniel 9:27
There will be covenant made between "the prince that shall come"
and Israel, which will signal the beginning of the 70th week or
the final 7 years of the age. The prince who makes the covenant
with Israel will be the antichrist, but at the time will not
revealed. It is believed that a peace treaty will be negotiated
by the antichrist between Israel and its enemies concerning a
land dispute.

What are they fighting over right now over there? In the middle
of that 7 years which is 3 * years the prince will break his
covenant with Israel, declare himself to be God, take over the
temple in Jerusalem, forbid the worship of the Lord and
devastate Palestine (ISRAEL).

Matthew 24:15-28
These verses describe the great tribulation. But for the
overcomers that are alive before the tribulation, God will keep
them from the hour of trial, most likely through the rapture,
the catching up of the faithful to meet Christ in the air before
God pours out his wrath. This deliverance is a reward for those
who persevere in keeping God1s word in true faith. Present day
believers who hope to escape all these things will do so only by
faithfulness to Christ and his Word and by constant vigilance
in prayer, lest they be deceived.

There is some controversy among various Bible interpreters
about the phrase "keep thee from the hour of temptation".

The same phrase is found in John 17:15 Where Jesus does not
ask the Father to take his disciples out of the world but to
"keep them from the evil one."  How one can take a phrase and
use it as a basis to say the church will go through the
tribulation needs to be careful. But some do. The evil in
John 17:15 means the evil one. In other words kept out of
the clutches of satan.

The context of verse 10 is talking about the end of the age.
The believers are not merely to be kept from satan but kept
out of a time that is coming on all the world. The Greek
clearly means "from," or "out of," not "through."

The judgments indicated by the seals, trumpets, and vials or
bowls are all judgments of wrath, and God has not appointed us
to wrath.  1 Thessalonians 5:9

The return of our Lord is the Blessed hope of the church
a hope that encourages holiness now. 
Titus 2:12-14 & 1 John 3:2-3


TIME is SHORT!
Things happen SUDDENLY!  UNEXPECTEDLY!


The SEALS ARE OPEN - NOW!

Revelation Chapter 6

* PLEASE  Email me if a link does NOT work!!

The vision is yet for the appointed time.
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it; 
For it will certainly come,
it will not delay. Habakkuk 2:3






THIS IS THE JUDGMENT
that the Light has come into the world, 
and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, 
for their deeds were evil.  

GOD so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
Eternal LIFE. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

He who believes in Him is not judged;
he who does not believe has been judged already, 
because he has not believed in the name of the only 
begotten Son of God.  John 3:16-19