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PENTECOST – 2000
"The Seven Church Harvest" #7
Philadelphia & Laodicea
Fred Coulter - June 4, 2000
This is the Seven Church Harvest #7, and what I have done is gone through,
and we haven’t quite finished, but we are going through the seven churches
of Revelation 2 and 3. And we are seeing that there is a parallel in
the harvest leading up to Pentecost between the seven weeks of harvest and
the seven churches. And then on Pentecost we will cover the 50th day
harvest, which then will be the final harvest of God.
Now let’s come to Revelation 3, and we began with the church at
Philadelphia, or ended rather last time with the church at Philadelphia, and
so we’ll pick it up here. And let’s see if we can conclude the church
at Philadelphia and the Laodicean church. Now as I mentioned, these
prophecies can apply:
#1 To the seven literal churches then.
#2 To the history of the Church of God down through time.
#3 To any attitude that a person can have in any church at any time.
#4 To show all the main doctrinal problems into which the Church of
God would have infiltrated into them.
And as I mentioned before, I’ll mention here, Satan always infiltrates the
true Church of God. You never hear of anyone from the true Church of
God infiltrating a church of Satan. Like infiltrate the Catholics and
change them. No way, see. We are to be separate from them.
So it’s interesting that these things come into the church.
Now as we are looking at the church at Philadelphia let’s understand
something. Christ is the one Who has the key of David. And
Christ is the one Who opens and Who closes. Opening can refer
to:
#1 Preaching the gospel.
#2 To understanding the word of God.
Now if you don’t have the tape, “The Key of David”, and “Tabernacle of
David”, those two tapes, write for them. Because the tabernacle of
David is the Church. Let’s to back…hold your place here cause we’ll be
back to Revelation 3. Let’s go to Acts 15. The reason why it is
called the tabernacle of David is because we are to have the same spiritual
attitude of David. The same heart as David. And that means the
closeness that we have to God. Now this is Acts 15. We won’t get
into a full length discussion here of Acts 15 and the problem of
circumcision, and so forth. But what we’ll do, we’ll come down here
and come to verse 13 where James then renders his decision.
“And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon [that is Peter] hath declared how God at
the first did visit the Gentiles…” And I think that that is quite
ironic when you read Galatians 2, how that Peter got trapped by the
circumcision party into separating from the Gentiles. And yet he was
the first one to go to the Gentiles, to Cornelius and his family, as
recorded in Acts 10 and 11. And God revealed to Peter that God was no
respecter of persons, and there was a miraculous conversion of Cornelius and
his household by giving of the Holy Spirit before they were baptized
(afterwards they were baptized, of course). But to show to Peter that
God was calling the Gentiles. So he went through and explained all
that. Now continuing, “…did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a
people for His name.” Now it’s important to understand when you come
to Hebrews 4:9, “There remains therefore for the people of God
Sabbath-keeping…” (Acts 15:13-14). Then here it’s talking about
Gentiles as the people of God, as well as we find in 1 Peter 2:8.
Now notice verse 15. “And to this agree the words of the prophets; as
it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle
of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof,
and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and
all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, Who doeth all
these things” (vs. 15-17). So this is another strong statement that we
can use to go along concerning the Sabbath and the word of God, and
Gentiles, and all of this.
“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.
Wherefore my sentence [or judgment] is, that we trouble not them, which from
among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them, that they
abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood” (vs.
18-20). Now these are also contained in the law of Moses.
Now notice verse 21. “For Moses of old time hath in every city them
that preach Him [that is preach about the coming of Christ], being read in
the synagogues every sabbath day.” So his judgment does not release
the Gentiles from Sabbath or holy day keeping. What it does, it
releases all, all, not just the Gentiles, from all the code of Jewish law.
Now if you’ve never seen the book The Code of Jewish Law, write me
and I’ll tell you where you can get one. But you cannot understand the
writings of Paul, or what is said concerning the law of Moses in
relationship to the Pharisees and Sadducces unless you understand that all
the code of Jewish law are those laws which the Jews made to put around the
Ten Commandments and the word of God. So in effect their traditions,
as Jesus said, rejected the truth of God. And so this was the problem
that they were having concerning circumcision.
And that’s why Paul, in Romans 4 shows that Abraham was converted and the
father of the faithful while he was uncircumcised, and circumcision came
later. So that’s all that I need to get into with this. Suffice
to say, these Gentiles were doing what? Keeping the Sabbath.
Attending the synagogue. And the question was: Would there be the
enforcement of the laws of Judaism put upon them rather than keeping the
laws and commandments of God. So the decision was made they should
keep the laws and commandments of God.
But the main point I wanted to make here for the church at Philadelphia is
that the tabernacle of David shows…let’s go back here to Revelation 3…shows
the attitude of David, the obedience of David, the love of God that David
had, and this is why the church at Philadelphia, which is called the church
of brotherly love, in order to have brotherly love you have to have the love
of God first. And we will see that they have the love of God first,
and love the brethren.
Now let’s just review here, verse 8. “I know thy works [so they had
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 [which shows that they’re faithful].”
All right, why is it important to understand the weakness of human beings?
Which none of the other churches were commended for understanding that they
were weak. Now weak can mean several things:
#1
Not very much strength in numbers.
#2 Understanding the weakness of the flesh in relationship to obeying
in the spirit.
Now what happens when you are weak? Let’s look at some of the
scriptures here. Let’s first of all go to 2 Corinthians 12. And
being weak and relying on the strength of God, then does what? As we
will see it shows you are relying on the strength of God through the grace
of God to do what God wants. Remember what Christ said, “The spirit is
willing but the flesh is weak.” And the problem comes about when we
get to the Laodiceans, that they think that the physical things and their
physical abilities give them a great standing before God. But it
doesn’t.
Now let’s read here, concerning Paul, what happened here. Let’s begin
in verse 7. “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
the messenger of Satan…” Now the Greek here is angelos.
And it could mean an angel, or a fallen angel of Satan. And He has his
angels, Revelation 12:9-10. “…To buffet me, lest I should be
exalted above measure” (2 Cor. 12:7). And apparently this angel, what
it did, it went around and stirred up trouble and opposition for Paul.
You read all the trouble and difficulties he had everywhere he went, stirred
up the Jews against him.
Verse 8, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart
from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.” So if we have a little strength
that means we recognize our weaknesses, which means then we look to the
grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit. “Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities [which then is
weaknesses], in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses
for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” That is
being strong in the Lord. So the Philadelphians, as we will see, were
strong in the Lord. That’s important to understand.
Now let’s look in the book of Isaiah. That’s what’s important to
realize. We have to understand this, brethren. We cannot accomplish
spiritual things by our own spirituality or carnal means. We cannot do
that. We can make it look like we’re doing it but in the final
analysis there is going to be a test that will come which will prove that we
can’t . Now have we not seen that in operation many, many times over?
Yes, indeed.
Isaiah 35:3, “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not:…”
And that’s what we need to do because we are going to be confronted with an
enemy, as we will see, in the synagogue of Satan. “…Behold your God
will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; He will come and save
you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break
out, and streams in the desert” (Isa. 35:3-6). Then it blends on from
there in to the millenium and the coming of Christ. So we have to have
our power and strength in Christ.
Let’s go to Psalm 73. Now remember Paul also said, “I can do all
things through Christ which strengthens me.” And that’s where our
strength comes from. It doesn’t come from our ability. It
doesn’t come from great knowledge and understanding. It comes from
God’s way, God’s Spirit, God’s truth, from God Himself.
Now here Psalm 73:26. “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo,
they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that
go a whoring from thee.” Now this is very important because the
Philadelphians are one of those churches which did not get involved in false
doctrines, which is called “going whoring”. Drinking of the cup of the
fornication of the harlot of Babylon the Great. “But it is good
for me to draw near to God [and that’s what the Philadelphians always do,
draw near to God]: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare
all Thy works” (Psa. 73:26-28). Not relying upon himself, nor relying
upon his ability, but always upon God. And we will see being faithful
to the word of God as no other church. And that’s becomes important.
Now let’s go back to Psalm 35. And here then is how a Philadelphian
fights the battle. Now let’s look at some of those who trust in
physical things to fight their battles for them. And of course we’ll
see in just a minute, our battle that we are fighting is the synagogue of
Satan. And that means on a spiritual level. On a political
level. And on an economic level the whole world has been deceived by
the synagogue of Satan. And I’ll bring that out when I bring another
sermon, which I’m going to give a little more in depth concerning the beast
that was, and is not, and yet is.
Now then, for those who do not rely on God, what is one of the type of
organizations that we find out there and has cost us trouble from time to
time? It is the organization, or the kind of organizations, there are
many different movements in it, which is we need to get back to the
constitution once delivered in the United States. These are called the
sovereignists, saying that we all have our sovereign rights and we need to
exercise that and get back to the constitution once delivered. Now
granted the constitution is being changed defacto. But even if you get
back to the constitution once delivered, what do you have? As great as
the constitution and bill of rights of the United States is, what do you
have? You have a carnal government. So what they are trying to
do with these means by saying, well, you should withdraw from Social
Security. You should not have a driver’s license. You should not
have a car license on your car. You should not have a bank account,
etc., etc., etc. They are trying to fight the enemy with carnal
means.
The Philadelphians will fight the enemy with spiritual means. All the
while recognizing that it says, “Be subject to the higher powers.” Now
when we draw the line, which is not too far down the road, by the way, is
when they want us to go against our faith. We draw the line and say,
“Absolutely no.” And when they say, “Receive the mark of the beast,
and worship the image of the beast.” We say, “No.” And as we
will see in some of the sermons I will bring that the whole set-up as I have
said many times before, it’s going to be a whole new numbering system.
Everything else that we have is leading up to that. The mark of the
beast will be the final tip that is put on the finished product. And
that’s where God says, “You draw the line.” I call your attention to
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego when they were told to bow down to the
idol. That’s where they drew the line and said, “No, regardless of
what you do to us we will not bow down to the idol. And if it’s God’s
will that we die, we die. If it’s God’s will we don’t, we won’t.”
So they were cast into the furnace of fire and they survived. Christ
was actually in there with them protecting them.
Now here’s how a Philadelphian fights the battle. Psalm 35:1, “Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me…” That’s why I do
not get into doctrinal arguments unless it gets down into effecting the
brethren and what they believe. Then it become a spiritual battle.
“…Fight against them that fight against me.” And I’ve had to claim
that promise many times within the Church down through the years. And
God has always delivered us from every single one of the problems. But
if I’d have gone out and tried to exercise my carnal power I would have been
slaughtered.
“Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw
out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me:
say unto my soul, I am thy salvation” (vs. 2-3). Now I want you
to see how closely this ties in with 2 Corinthians 12 and Paul relying upon
God and the power of the Holy Spirit rather than in his own carnal means.
And always remember, as I have said, you cannot accomplish spiritual things
with carnal means. It cannot be done.
“Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them
be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them
be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute
them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a
pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Let
destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid
catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. And my soul
shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in His salvation” (vs. 4-9).
Now notice he’s not joying in the fact that his enemy is defeated by God,
which he’s happy and thankful that God is the one Who has done it. But
he joys in God. Even when an enemy falls don’t rejoice in that.
Because we are to love our enemies. Rejoice in the fact that God is
the one Who fought the battle. Nevertheless, is this not the attitude
of David? Is this not a key to David in trusting God for power?
And trusting God to fight his battles? And this is why the
Philadelphians are commended for what they do because they trust in
God.
“All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto Thee, which
deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and
the needy from him that spoileth him?” Then it blends right on in to some of
the prophecies concerning Christ. Now we’ll finish here with verse 11.
“False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I
knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my
soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine
own bosom” (vs. 10-13). In other words he had his prayers answered
because he looked to God rather than out there fighting the enemy.
Now, we covered Psalm 34 during the days of unleavened bread. As a
matter of fact the last holy day, that God delivers us out of all of our
troubles. Now let’s go back and see how this applies to the
Philadelphians here. And how important this is. Back here in
Revelation 3, and let’s look more concerning the Philadelphians and their
attitude.
Now verse 9. “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan…”
Now what is the synagogue of Satan? I will just give you a very brief
review of it. I’ll try and cover it when I bring the sermon on the
United Nations that’s coming. Especially what they’re planning this
fall. It’s going to stand your hair on end.
The synagogue of Satan consists of all those in the world who are the rich,
who are the powerful, who worship and serve Satan to accomplish his plan on
this earth. It is called by Dr. Coleman, The Committee of 300.
It includes a cross section of all governments, all religions, economics,
politics. And in the book that I’m going to bring my reference out of,
it is called Diplomacy By Deception. And that will answer how
Satan is able to deceive the whole world.
So what the Philadelphians are commended for is this: that in the
face of the synagogue of Satan, “…which say they are Jews and are not…”
It’s not to referring just to Jews only, but to all of those who claim that
they have the right way for the right society, for the right religion, for
the right salvation, and all of that’s included in the coming one world
government and one world religion. So that’s quite a sweeping
statement here. They “…are not, but do lie…” And that’s why Diplomacy By Deception is so profound, because everything that is this
whole one world government and one world religion is coming to is based upon
a lie. And many lies. And some of the legislation that’s being
put through congress, and right here in California and yea in every state in
America, and around the world are legislated things to implement the United
Nations standard for education, for conduct of society, for children, for
adults, for law. And there’s going to be a world court that’s going to
come up, which then will make it possible through treaty through the United
Nations for someone to be arrested in a country, say like the United States,
and taken to Rome to be put on trial for hate crimes by speaking against the
Catholic church, or the Jews, or the Buddhists, or the United Nations.
So the true Philadelphians resist all of this. Now notice God is
going to turn the tables. He’s going to make them come and worship
before our feet. And the word there “worship” means “worship”.
Notice. “…Behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,
and to know that I have loved thee.” Now you see this is very
important because Christ loves those who love Him, though God loves the
whole world. But this is talking to the Church, and this is the
special love that comes from God. This is a special love back to God.
And if we do the things that are pleasing in His sight, He loves us.
And He gives a promise that everyone wants. And everyone thinks that
this is going to a place of safety. Now it may or may not. Now
if you don’t have the tape, “The Temptation to Try The Whole World”, be sure
and write for that because I think you are going to be very surprised.
Let’s read it, verse 10. “Because thou hast kept the word of My
patience [or patiently kept My word]…” Now what is involved in love?
Keeping the word of God. Keeping the commandments of God. Let me
give you an example in marriage, in faithfulness. You’re married.
We had a wedding here two weeks ago. And the vows that they took to
enter into covenant to God - to love each other, to be faithful to each
other. For the husband to provide for the wife. For the wife to
submit herself to her husband. For the husband to love her, and for
them to become one flesh. Now then. If a couple so married
continue in that - then they are faithfully, patiently through thick and
thin, through trial and difficulty, through disappointments and arguments,
through triumphs and failures - they have faithfully and patiently kept
their covenant with Christ.
Now then, if on the other hand as some of the other churches have done,
lost their first love, held the doctrine of Balaam, the doctrine of
Nicolaitans, the doctrine of Jezebel, the depths of Satan - they have not
faithfully, patiently kept the word of God. Which means that they were
lacking in their love to God. See, because if you patiently keep His
word that means you are keeping His commandments. No question about
it. Now let’s just enter in one scripture here for this.
Let’s go to 1 John 5. I’m afraid we’ll have to enter in a couple more
here. We need to just to have the scriptural proof of it here.
Now this ties right in with the whole attitude of the Philadelphians.
1 John 5:2, “By this we know [and it means “by this standard” or “by this
means” or “this way”] that we love the children of God…” And if you
love the children of God what is that? Brotherly love, is it not?
And does not Philadelphia mean the church of brotherly love? So this
ties right in it. We know that we love the children of God “…when we
love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous”
(1 John 5:2-3).
Now let’s come to the gospel of John 14, and let’s see how Christ also
explained it here. Because it is…wait till we get to the church at
Laodicea and I’ll read something that will just literally blow your mind.
John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If…”I’ve got that
circled in my Bible, you might want to do it in yours. There is the
condition - if. And that’s very important. The condition
is upon us. The condition is not upon God. God is true, God
cannot lie. God will not lie. God is love. God is truth.
God is all powerful, etc. So the condition is upon us because it is
our choice to make. “If a man love Me [that is Christ], he will
keep My words…” And isn’t that what is said of the Philadelphains,
“you have patiently kept My word”? Yes. “…And My Father will
love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with Him.”
Meaning that through the power of the Holy Spirit, you have the Spirit of
Christ in you and you have the Spirit of begettal from the Father, which
then is the two-fold action of the Holy Spirit within you.
Verse 24, very key. “He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings…”
Which means then you can’t pick and choose what you are going to do or what
you won’t do according to the word of God, because as we will see later,
that is part of the mystery of iniquity. “He that loveth me not
keepeth not My sayings…” So if a person says, “I love the Lord, come
to church on Sunday.” He doesn’t love God. He may think he does.
He may have a feeling in his heart, but he doesn’t have faith based upon the
facts of the truth of God. So he truly has a religion of opinion
because first you must keep the words of God, and keep His sayings.
Since Christ was the LORD God of the Old Testament, this means what?
Everything that’s in the Old Testament that applies to us today, as well as
everything in the New Testament. Now let’s read on. And here’s a
warning. “…And the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father’s
which sent Me.” So that becomes very profound and important for us to
understand.
Now let’s come to Matthew 10 here for just a minute and let’s see something
else that’s important concerning that. Talks about we have not denied
the name of Christ. So the Philadelphian has not denied His name, has
not denied Christ, faithfully kept the word of God, and you see that’s why
God is going to decide who the Philadelphians are. No church name.
No human proclamation, because it is a spiritual thing that takes place.
Now let’s read here, Matthew 10:32. “Whosoever therefore, shall
confess Me before men, Him will I confess also before My Father which is in
heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny
before My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32-33). Now that is
straightforward isn’t it? It doesn’t take any great interpretation,
does it? It means that. So when the Philadelphians are commended
for not denying His name that means that they have always stood for His
name.
Now verse 34, in spite of all the conflict here, you see. “Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a
sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and
the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother
in law. And a man’s foes shall be those of his own household”
(vs. 34-36). Because truth divides as well as unites. But first
it must divide you from the carnal reality of this world into the spiritual
truth of God.
Now verse 37. “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not
worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy
of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is
not worthy of Me” That’s why the Philadelphians are commended that in spite
of their weaknesses they rely upon the strength of God for their spiritual
strength and success. Verse 39, “He that findeth his life shall lose
it [now this will tie right back in to the temptation that comes upon the
whole earth]: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it” (vs.
37-39).
Now let’s go back to Revelation 3. Now I know some of this is basic,
and some of this is more detailed and for a higher level if some of this is
new to you. But I’ll try and make it as clear as I can here. Now
verse 10, let’s read it again. “Because thou hast kept the word of My
patience [or patiently kept My word], I also will keep thee from the hour of
temptation…” Now temptation is an entirely different thing than
tribulation. Let’s look and see what kind of temptation this is.
“…Keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world…” Now please understand something concerning Revelation.
When it says “all the world” it means all the world. And the
fulfillment will be in our day, today. “…come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the earth.”
Now with all of the globalization that we have…I saw last night on the news
concerning the economics in China and why it’s such a wonderful thing that
we have the trade thing with China. And it showed a Chinese building
with a McDonald’s sign. And I thought “one world society”.
That’s what it all is. And what was the rational for approving this
treaty? “Well we can influence them more and show them our way of life
if we are engaged with them.” Which in a sense is true. But you
see what is happening in that, in one sermon here not too far back, the
whole world is being Babylonianized. And it’s going to be a whole one
world thing. And it’s coming.
Now what is a temptation that is coming upon all the world to try them that
dwell upon the earth? A lot of people think it is the tribulation but
the tribulation, though it affects many people in the world, there are still
human beings left over at the end of the tribulation even when Christ
returns they survive through it. So this has to be before it.
And He is going to keep us from that time of temptation. Now, does
that mean that we will flee to a place of safety? Possibly.
We’ll look at that in just a minute. But let’s look at the temptation
that is coming.
Come to Revelation 13. This is the temptation that is coming, and it
will be two-fold. Now I know we’ve covered this before but we are
living in these days so we need to cover it again. Verse 11, “And I
beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a
lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” It’s the coming one world religion.
“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth
the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,”
Now here is the deception - the temptation. “And deceiveth them that
dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power
to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth…”
Now that’s exactly the same thing that is back there in verse 10 of
Revelation 3. “…Saying to them that dwell on the earth that they
should make an image to the beast…” And the image of the beast has
always been the female goddess - always. That’s why today’s education
is so much involved in environmentalism so that they can get in line with
Gaia, which is Mother Earth, or the Virgin Mary, or the Virgin of
Guadeloupe, or whatever other virgin, the Virgin of Fatima, whatever.
It’s all the same thing. So they make an image for the beast “… which
had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life
unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak,
and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be
killed” (Rev. 13:11-15).
So the temptation is going to be, “You make this image to the beast and you
bow down to worship it or you’re going to be killed.” That’s one part
of it. Christ gave the promise to the Philadelphians that they would
be spared from the hour of temptation that temptation.
Now notice what else happens here, verse 16. “And he causeth all…”
Now you might go down here to verse 14 meaning “all that dwell on the
earth”. Do we today have the power to do something to all on the earth
for the first time in the world’s history? Yes we do. “And he
causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive
a mark in [the Greek there is epi or “upon”] their right hand, or in
their foreheads:” Now we’ve covered it concerning the Digital Angel.
Small little chip the size of a dime and they’ll get it smaller, which is
called a transceiver.
And as I mentioned years ago before the information ever came out
concerning the Digital Angel chip, which they are perfecting right now, that
it is not just a system to buy and sell. But it is a system of
control. A transceiver means that someone out there with the same kind
of mechanism that they have with the satellites that they use for cellular
phones, they can actually with this Digital Angel take away your free moral
agency by making you do what they want you to do. And as I said,
that’s why the mark of the beast is so absolutely treacherous because you
give up your choice. And since you have chosen God and God has chosen
you, if you give up your choice you are giving up God. That’s why the
mark of the beast is so damnable.
Now notice verse 17. “And that no man might buy and sell, save he that had
the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” And the
number is 666. The number 666 applies to the first beast of Revelation
13, and the second beast of Revelation 13, which is wrapped up in all the
Babylonian mystery religion system.
Now let’s understand something here with this. Today there is a vast
criminal movement going on, which they can hardly stop, which is this:
the theft of not only you’re financial things such as credit cards, bank
statements and things like this, but the theft of your identity, that with
these things they can in a planned way take everything out of your bank
account. Even one company worth $20 million was taken down in five
hours and they had to declare bankruptcy and they didn’t know who did it.
Now I suggest you do all you can to protect your personal identity and
everything like that. And don’t throw out bank statements and bills in
the garbage in the street. And any checks that you write, by all means
use permanent ink, because they can take your checks, they can drop them
into a solution - eliminates all the ink, but it keeps all of the markings
and everything, the printing for the bank on there and they can fill it out
to their hearts desire. And since they have your number they can get
into the bank and find out how much you have. So you protect it.
So the solution to this will be the mark of the beast so we will have full
proof identity of who you are. Whether you are on-line with the
computer, or buying and selling in a store, or whatever it may be. And
I think the mark of the beast will be voluntary at first. But don’t
worry, they are targeting everyone who believes in the Bible anyway.
So you are already marked one way or the other. So it gets down to
this: will you be a true Philadelphian and trust in Christ? Or
will you look to save your own life but lose it eternally? Well the
Philadelphian chooses to trust God.
Now let’s come back here to Revelation 3:11 and let’s get the time setting
here on this. Now I’m sure there are other things that we could add to
this. Many other scriptures, but I want to finish in seven tapes so
we’ll save some of these things for a little later. Suffice to say
that the attitude that the Philadelphian has…let’s go to Philippians 2…here
is the, what you might say, the perfect loving Philadelphia attitude
described by the apostle Paul.
Philippians 2:1, “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ,
if any comfort of love [now I want you to notice how these verses fit in so
well with the Philadelphian church of God], if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any bowels and mercies [now bowels means “deep innermost affection”],
fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind [and that means minding the one and selfsame
thing, that is attaining to the kingdom of God]. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory [because a true Philadelphian will
not do that]; but in lowliness of mind [recognizing your weaknesses, if I
can just interject that there] let each esteem [the] other better than
themselves” (Phil. 2:1-3). And that applies not only for brethren, but
that applies for elders and teachers and ministers in relationship to the
brethren. Paul said that he wanted to see the Corinthians elevated to
a high status of spirituality. And that should be the goal of any
minister, any elder. And to see the brethren promoted, yes, above him
spiritually. That is true love.
Verse 4, “Look not every man on his own things [to get your own, save your
own], but every man also on the things of others. And let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”, which then was the mind of true
humility that the Philadelphians have. “Who, being in the form of God
[or that is existing as God], thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant
[which in the Greek means “slave”], and was made in the likeness of men: and
being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient
unto death even the death of the cross” (vs. 4-7).
Now, what it means that we’re going to have to do if we’re Philadelphians,
I don’t know. But I know this: God is the one Who makes the decision
and the choice. So what we need to do is conform our lives to the word
of God and the truth of God so that we will function as Philadelphians
without having to go around and trumpet our horn and say we are
Philadelphians. Because know this for sure: anyone who proclaims
himself to be a Philadelphian probably is not. What they want to do is
escape to go to a place of safety.
Now let’s come back to Revelation 3 and let’s finish up here with the
church at Philadelphia. Then He gives a warning, verse 11.
“Behold, I come quickly…” So there’s the time setting. Right
close toward the end of the age. Now quickly to God, or to Christ may
be slow to men because some men will say, “My Lord delays His coming.”
But He isn’t delaying His coming. He’s right on time. The only
problem is carnal men have their own time schedule and Christ is not going
to go by carnal men’s time schedule. He’s going to go by the time
schedule of God the Father. “…Hold that fast which thou hast [don’t
let anyone take it away], that no man take thy crown.” So what we’re
seeing happening with a lot of brethren who may have been Philadelphians to
begin with, someone is stealing their crown because they are not holding
fast.
Now notice this superlative. This promise to this church is the
superlative promise to any of the seven churches. Verse 12, “Him that
overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God…” And a pillar
is one of the strong supports. “…And he shall go no more out…”
In other words he will stay right there in the temple of God. Of
course he will go in and out from there but he’s not going to go out from
there and not come back. “…And I will write upon him the name of My
God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name.”
Now I’m just going to interject here, just, I don’t have my bell out today.
So just consider that I rang the bell. I believe that verse 12
describes the ones who are in the first resurrection who will be the bride
of Christ more than any other. Now that’s just my opinion, so it’s not
dogma. But when you look at all of it there. The name of the
Father, the name of Jerusalem, and the name of Christ. And what
happens when a bride gets married? Takes the name of the husband,
correct? Yes. So I’ll leave it at that.
Let’s go on. Let’s finish here and we’ll do the Laodiceans quickly.
We’ve beaten enough on the Laodiceans enough so we don’t need to spend very
much time on them. We’ve spent lots of time on them.
Ok, verse 13. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.” And isn’t it profound that one of the most
basic themes in the Bible is to obey the voice of God. And if you
obey, that means you hear. So He lays it out for everyone.
Now, the church of the Laodiceans. Big, bad, nasty Laodiceans, you
know. Let me say before we get into that, that Christ loves the
Laodiceans, but they have some very difficult problems to work on and
overcome.
Verse 14, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the [beginner]
beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither
cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot [cold means being unconverted,
hot means being converted]. So then because thou art lukewarm…”
You’re half carnal, you’re half spiritual, you’re right in-between.
And right here I’ve got a lukewarm partial cup of coffee. And when you
try and drink that you just don’t like it. So then because you are
“…lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth [and
that means vomit]. Because thou sayest…” Now this is the only
church of the seven that has the gall and audacity to talk back to God.
Now they don’t think they’re talking back to God, but they are. “…Thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods…” They are trusting in all
the physical things as evidence of their great conversion, yet they’re
corrupt. “…And have need of nothing…”
Now when you talk about physical things, let’s understand something.
Physical blessings do indeed come from God. But let’s understand
something else, if you compromise the way that you believe, as the
Laodiceans have here, and become lukewarm can also Satan the devil reward
you for that and you deceive yourself that this comes from God? No
question about it. Remember during the temptation of Jesus Christ,
Matthew 4 and Luke 4. What did Satan tell Jesus Christ? He took
Him on a high mountain and he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a
moment of time, and all the glory of them. And the glory of them means
the riches, the wealth, the splendor, the buildings, the whole thing.
And he said, “If you will fall down and worship me all of this will be yours
because I give it to whomsoever I will.” So if you do, like this
church group. Here’s a perfect Laodicean attitude. Let’s finish
this first.
“…Have need of nothing; and knowest not [that is you cannot perceive or
understand] that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked:” (vs. 14-17). Now this is one of the most scathing corrections.
I think the most scathing correction was for Thyatira because they got clear
into the depths of Satan. But here they don’t understand their
spiritual condition. They are not in right standing with Jesus
Christ. Their lives are miserable because they are not keeping the
commandments of God the way that they should. They are poor
spiritually because they’re looking to all the physical things and saying,
“Look at all of these things that we have.” And isn’t that how the
church we came out of measured their spiritual condition? Yes.
Where is it now? All removed, correct? Cause if you trust in
physical things God will remove them, and He has done it. “…And
blind…” You can’t even understand your own spiritual condition.
“…And naked…” Naked means you don’t have the righteousness of Christ
through the garments.
Now this is taken from off the line here, and this is reference to a
congregation. I don’t know where it is. It starts out, “I
suppose the problem arises from several sources…” Now this is in
relationship to “Lazarus and the Rich Man”, and “U.S. and Britain in
Prophecy.” “…Inconsistencies such as this don’t bother me any more
because I’ve learned after lo these many years, that every question doesn’t
necessarily need an answer. Sometimes the best answer is ‘I don’t
know’, which I’ve never said enough of. Amen. This concept of
systematic theology is laudable…” Now let me just say something.
What we do when we go through Romans and Colossian, and Ephesians, and
Philippians, and Revelation, and take a topic and a subject and go through
it, that is systematic theology. That means you are systematically
going through something so you can come to a full understanding of it .
And apparently this person was saying, “Look the way to understand these
difficulties is to have a systematic way of analyzing it, of studying it so
that you can come to the truth of the conclusion here.
“This concept of systematic theology is laudable but I wonder if it is even
necessary. Far better to take the advise of the old Quaker, in
Benjamin Franklin’s auto-biography. When asked why he didn’t have a
doctrinal statement, the Quaker told Franklin that such a statement would
lock them into beliefs that might later prove to be wrong, and the statement
would only make it harder to accept that.” Which is a silly answer
indeed. How can you believe unless you have a form of belief based
upon scripture. And then you take that and put it into a statement of
beliefs. Now if there are some things you may learn, you need to
change later, you can change it. No problem. That’s why we have
a beliefs booklet that we send out to everyone.
“I agree that we should not have a static doctrinal statement. We
already have the Bible for that.” Now, if someone says, “What do you
believe?” You just hand them a Bible and say, “What do you believe -
well read the Bible”.
“Well, no, I want a summary on it.”
“Well, read the Bible.”
What it really does is this: it means that you don’t believe anything.
And we’ll see what happens.
“A systematic theology is not a doctrinal statement. It is a process
for approaching the scriptures in a way that help us to recognize the
inconsistency in our views of scripture and reconcile them. This
process generates a dynamic view of the Bible that changes as we grow in
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” So that was
his answer to it. Which is basically true. And we do grow in
grace and knowledge don’t we.
Now here’s the answer: “I’m happy to say that our congregation
doesn’t have a doctrinal statement. So we have people who keep a
different Passover date, different calendars, different ideas on who Jesus
is, God in the flesh verses a created being, tithing, etc. Some
systematic theology we would have, but what we do have by the grace of God
is people who truly enjoy being together.”
Answer: “I’m glad to hear of your diversity. In the end the
tolerance required to have such diversity may lead to greater unity.”
Go figure it out.
A comment was made: “It doesn’t sound like they even have a
doctrine.” No wonder they don’t have a doctrinal statement. And
brethren do you realize how many people are out there that are buying into
this kind of thing. To have within the congregation all of these
divergent beliefs. And what is the rule? You are dumbed down to
the lowest common denominator. And what is the lowest common
denominator with people like this? A social club. They enjoy
being together. And a social club then becomes an idol because you
have put getting along with people on a social basis before your
relationship with God. You have put how people think of you and feel
about you before understanding the word of God, and how God looks at you and
how God feels about you. This describes a perfect Laodicean attitude
of lukewarmness and wretchedness they can’t see, they can’t understand, they
have no doctrine, they have no statement. They have no spine, they
have no backbone. They are not cold. They certainly are not hot.
They are lukewarm. And another way of saying that is bland, bland,
bland, bland. They wouldn’t stand for anything.
So Christ says verse 18, here’s the counsel for them. “I counsel thee
to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, This does not necessarily mean the
tribulation. It could, because every person’s work is going to be
tried by fire. So what He’s saying, the trials and difficulties that
are coming upon you because of being lukewarm and being spewed out of My
mouth, I counsel you to gain spiritual of character of gold. And just
put in your margin there, 1 Corinthians 3:10 through the end of chapter.
I covered that when we went through the dead church of Sardis. “…That
thou may be rich…” True spiritual riches, not just the physical
things. “…And white raiment…” Which then is the righteousness of the
saints. Which then is what? Learn to obey. Which means you
need to learn the scriptures. “…That thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes
with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” In otherwords strip back the
scales that are still there. The scales should be done away in Christ
that you see. So when someone is baptized and have the Spirit of
Christ then the veil is removed and they begin to understand. But the
Laodiceans then close down the veil again over their eyes. See, “…that
you may see.”
Here’s a little encouragement. “As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten…” So God still loves them. But just like with children
they have to be rebuked and chastened. “…Be zealous therefore, and
repent” (vs. 19). Repent of your attitude toward God. Repent of
stupidity like this congregation I just read of here.
You know, they…I heard of one where they have everything under the sun.
One man gets up there to preach to them and says, “Well, I guess you would
call me a believer in the trinity.” Well if you haven’t proved the
truth of God, if you haven’t proved that God is a family, if you haven’t got
into the word of God… And here he is a supposed minister.
Another minister gets up and says well, “I can’t find any place in the New
Testament where it commands us to keep the Sabbath.” Bingo! Are
you bringing in Sunday keeping? Shows you he doesn’t know his Bible.
It’s amazing what goes on out there in the name of Christ, but it’s all
Laodiceanism. So they have to repent.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock…” So Christ hasn’t given up
on them yet. He’s still knocking. But what a thing that they
thrust Christ out. You know, it would be like you leaving your house
and you locking yourself out of your house. And you can’t get back in.
Well it’s the same way with those who thrust Christ out of their life.
Christ does not want that. He’s knocking at the door.
Now then, “…if any man…open…” which means based upon repentance and
the condition of if, you must open your mind to all your sins and
your weaknesses, and your wretchedness’, and the high-fluting attitude of
that every physical thing is a guarantee of the spiritual something and you
don’t even see or understand the word of God. “…If any man hear
My voice, and open the door…” You have to open. Christ says, “I
will come in to him [which then is real conversion], and will sup with him
[that is you will have a relationship with Him], and he with Me. To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (vs. 20-22).
So there is the seven church harvest representing the seven weeks of
harvest that we have in counting toward Pentecost. Now I want to go
back and review just a few things here in very quick order. So I want
to go back and bring out all the things that describe Christ because we are
dealing with God, we are dealing with Christ Who is God, {and} God the
Father. And remember the revelation came from the Father to Christ,
and Christ gave that to John to write it down so it would be for all the
churches. But remember Christ is the head. Christ is over all
the churches. So let’s just begin.
Revelation 1:11, “…I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…”
Revelation 1:17, “…I am the first and the last.”
Revelation 1:18, “I am He that liveth, and was dead [showing about His life
and His crucifixion, resurrection]; and, behold, I am alive for evermore…and
have the keys of hell and of death” [showing that He is the one Who can open
the graves and bring us out because He was resurrected from the dead].
Revelation 2:1, “These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His
right hand, Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden [lampstands]
candlesticks.”
So Christ is walking in the midst of the Church always. And when we
gather together on the Sabbath and ask for Christ’s blessing and His Spirit,
He will answer that prayer. But we need to have open hearts and open
minds in that continuously.
Revelation 2:8, “These things saith the first and the last, which was dead,
and is alive.
Revelation 2:12, “…Which hath the sharp sword with two edges…”
Revelation 2:18, “Who is “…the Son of God, Who hath His eyes like a flame
of fire, and His feet are like fine brass.”
I tell you what, we’re dealing with the power and authority of Christ.
That’s something. When we really comprehend Christ is the head of the
Church and He is working with all of His people, even the Laodiceans. And if there’s anything we can do to
help them come to repentance we should do that. And that’s part of
some of the things that we’ve been doing down through the years.
Revelation 3:1, “These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God,
and the seven stars.”
Revelation 3:7, “These things saith He that is holy [and that is His nature
is holy], He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth,
and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth” [so Christ is the one
Who controls all of this].
Revelation 3:14, “These things saith the Amen [meaning He has the final
authority], the faithful and true witness [witness there could also mean
martyr because the Greek is martus], the [beginner] of the creation
of God.”
And all the way through the New Testament you find that everything was
created by and for and through Christ.
Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock [we just read
that]: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,
and will sup with him, and he with Me.”
So the Lord of glory, Christ, the one Who is head of the Church, is right
now trying all the reins and hearts, as we saw with the church in Thyatira.
He knows all of our works. He knows whether we’re lukewarm or zealous
or dead. He knows whether we’ve gotten off the track doctrinally and
even into the things of Nicolaitanism, Balaaism, and into the things
concerning the depths of Satan. He knows all of that. And yet
Christ calls out to His Church to repent and to change. So you’ll have
to come to Pentecost in order to find out about the harvest for the 50th
day. And that will conclude the harvest of the seven churches plus
one.
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