Alright, just keep your fingers there in Isaiah 22 or put a bookmark or whatever you want there.
We're going to come back to that chapter.
Sorry, I couldn't print out my sermon notes. I've got my computer here.
But we're up to the church in Philadelphia.
We're going through the seven churches in the book of Revelation
and now we're going to be looking at the church in Philadelphia.
Now, some of the things that Jesus Christ says about this church
or about himself to this church ties in to what we just read there
or what we just heard there in Isaiah 22.
Alright, now please go to Revelation chapter 3.
Revelation chapter 3 verse number 7.
Verse number 7, we're near the end now.
This is the sixth church in the book of Revelation
and then we just have one more church to get to
and we'll finish this series on the seven churches of Revelation.
But Revelation chapter 3 verse 7 please.
Revelation chapter 3 verse 7, keeping a bookmark in Isaiah 22
as we'll get back to that quite shortly.
But look at Revelation chapter 3 verse 7.
I love these words of Jesus Christ, this description here of Jesus Christ.
That Jesus is holy and that Jesus is true.
Jesus is the embodiment of true holiness.
In order for us to be complete Christians,
walking in the ways of God, being an example of Jesus Christ,
being a Christian, a follower of Christ, a disciple of Christ as you will,
we need to be people that are holy and people that are of the true or of the truth.
This is important because there are some that have a lot of truth
but they don't have the holiness.
They know a lot of doctrine.
They know a lot of Bible.
Maybe they've been listening to a lot of preaching.
Maybe in this day and age we have a lot of preaching on the internet.
They fill their minds with doctrine, fill their minds with knowledge,
fill their minds with truth.
But their lives might not be one of holiness.
That they're not walking in the ways of Christ.
They're not walking in holy ways.
What does holy mean?
It means to be separated.
In other words, their lives could still be very carnal.
Their lives can still be very worldly.
Their lifestyle, the way they live their lives is just like anybody in this world.
Seeking after the sinful ways, seeking after the worldly ways.
But in their minds they have a lot of truth.
They have a lot of knowledge.
But what profit is there?
To know so much about the Bible,
what profit is there to know the right and wrong in the Bible
if you're not walking after those ways?
This is why we are instructed by the Word of God not to be a hearer only,
but a doer of the Word.
And you can have the other extreme.
You can have the other example where you're walking in holiness
but you don't have the truth.
And these are those that believe that salvation is by some type of works,
by some type of your personal performance,
some type of outward reformation.
Look holy on the outside.
The Pharisees looked holy on the outside.
They were righteous on the outside.
They looked like they were separated from the world.
They had their long robes.
They looked well.
Look how presentable.
Look how religious they looked.
But they did not even have the truth.
The truth being Jesus Christ.
They weren't even saved.
And their show was an outward reformation.
But we can apply this to a Christian as well.
A Christian who seeks to be very holy, right?
Very righteous on the outside.
But they have not spent time reading the Bibles.
They have not spent time, you know, the things they hear in church,
they have not spent the time to go back and say,
is this true?
Is what the preacher preached today, is it true?
Can I confirm this in the Word of God?
And they don't have the knowledge.
They've been saved for a long time.
They may know how to live Christian.
To look like a Christian on the outside.
But truly, they have no knowledge.
They don't have the truth nailed down.
And they cannot be a help to other believers.
They cannot be a help to those that are new in the faith
because they've not established that which is true themselves.
So we need to be people just like Christ.
Ones that are seeking to walk in holiness.
To be separate from the world.
To be that peculiar people.
But also a people with knowledge.
People with truth.
Not having the truth of Jesus Christ.
And knowing the doctrines that we believe and that we stand on.
So I love this embodiment of Jesus Christ.
How he refers to himself.
But then he says there in verse number seven,
He that hath the key of David.
When we talk about keys, we often talk about that,
the one who has authority.
You know, I've got keys to my car.
I've got keys to my house.
And what that means is that I own the property of the car that those keys belong to.
Normally it's, you know, this belongs to me.
You know, I have access to open or to close my house.
You know, that's my domain. That's my kingdom.
And when Christ says that he has the key of David,
he's saying, hey, he's got the key.
Of course, David representing the kingly line
that Jesus Christ would be that king after the order of David in that sense as a king.
And that he would have access to the kingdom ultimately of God.
All right.
Now let's look at this.
Let's keep our finger there and go back to Isaiah 22, please.
Isaiah 22 verse 15.
Verse 15.
Isaiah 22 deals with two aspects.
The first part being about judgment as per usual against Judah or Israel.
But the second half deals with two men.
One being Shebna and the other man being Eliakim.
So look at Isaiah 22 verse 15.
Let's look at this story first of all.
And then how can we apply this story to Jesus Christ
and what he's teaching here to the church?
It says here in verse 15.
So this Shebna that we're looking at is a treasurer in the house of David.
All right.
This is referring to the southern kingdom of Judah.
King Hezekiah was the king at this point in time.
And King Hezekiah had appointed a treasurer over his house.
And if you're a treasurer, you're someone that is basically in charge of the finances.
In charge of the expenditure of the house.
So this Shebna has a high position, doesn't he?
He's someone of a high reputation, a high status there in the kingdom of Hezekiah.
Which of course is an extension to the kingdom of David.
So we're looking at this treasure. What about him?
What does God have to say about this treasurer?
Look at verse 16.
This is what God says to the treasurer.
in a habitation for himself in a rock.
God says, what have you done, you know, treasurer Shebna?
You know, what are you doing here?
What are you doing?
You've done something, you know, where you set yourself on high.
In verse number 16.
A sepulchre.
A sepulchre is a grave, right?
And in these days, you know, there were graves that were reserved for the kings of Israel.
You know, where, you know, sepulchres, those that were hewn out of rock
were normally about for people that were rich and often reserved for the kings, you know.
And this is why it's important, of course, when Christ died,
that he was put into a sepulchre kind of like the same way
how the kingly lines would also have that, you know, rich burial in the grave
because Jesus Christ, of course, being the king of the Jews, okay.
And this Shebna, who's just a treasurer, now again, a man of a high position,
but he's not a king.
And what he's done, you know, he's taken it upon himself to build a grave, a sepulchre,
for himself amongst the kings.
He was overstepping his station.
You look at this very shortly.
He was exalting himself up higher than what he truly was, right?
He exalted himself.
He wanted to have a name, a reputation amongst himself.
Hey, if you're buried there with the kings, man, this Shebna must have been a really important person,
you know, during the kingly line or the kingship of Hezekiah.
You know, he was trying to seek a prominent position for himself that was above his office,
that was above his station.
And that's why God says, what are you doing here?
Why are you building here a grave?
This is not where you need to be doing it, right?
Let's keep reading.
Verse number 17.
Behold, look what the Lord's going to do because of what you've done.
Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with almighty captivity and will surely cover thee.
The Lord's going to make sure, Shebna, that you're going to be taken into captivity by the enemies
and not just taken into captivity.
Verse number 18.
He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country.
There shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy Lord's house.
So it says not only are you going to be taken into captivity, but you're going to be dealt with violently.
You're going to be violated.
You know, this is not going to be a comfortable captivity for you.
And you're going to be put to death.
You're going to be brought down low.
You try to exalt yourself in the kingdom of David, you're going to be brought down low by God.
You know, through the hands of the enemy here.
And what did it say there at the end?
And this is at the end of verse 18.
And there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame.
So what's saying that his self-glorifying will be turned into shame in the house of David.
You know, instead of being one that is looked upon by the nation as one of reputation, you know, of great status.
No, he's going to be looked upon by the nation as one who has brought shame upon himself and upon the house there of David or Hezekiah.
And let's look at verse number 19.
God's going to make sure that this station that you have is going to be pulled down.
The Lord's going to bring you low because you're overstepping your boundaries, right?
He's making a name for himself. God's going to make sure he brings them down.
This is an example of an employee who's lifting himself up like an employer.
You know, he was being hired to be a treasurer.
He wanted to be seen as more than a treasurer.
You know, this happens in the workplace.
Employees that rebel against their employers.
Hey, God hates that.
God hates it when you try to take, you know, a position that is not yours.
Again, authority structures ahead.
People that are under that, that are subject to that.
You know, children, obedient, being obedient to your parents.
When you're rebellious to your parents' commands and instructions, you know, God looks down and he hates that behavior.
You know, and he will bring you low.
If your parents don't bring you low, the Lord God will bring you low in due time.
Or wives that raise themselves against their husbands above their station.
No, husbands, you're the head of your wives.
You are the head of your homes, okay?
This is something that God frowns upon.
And anyone that tries to lift themselves up, God will bring them low.
Verse number 20.
And it shall come to pass.
You go, what's this about Revelation 3? You'll see soon.
And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim.
So this is the other man, Eliakim.
Eliakim is going to be the man that replaces Shebna, the son of Hilkiah.
And I will clothe him with thy robe, the robe of Shebna.
He's going to take basically the position that was Shebna's.
And strengthen him with thy girdle.
And I will commit thy government into his hand.
And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Okay?
Now, I'm going to read to you quickly from Luke 14, verse 11.
For whosoever exalts of himself shall be abased.
And he that humble of himself shall be exalted.
Make sure that your promotion comes from the Lord.
Make sure you just humble yourself.
You serve in the institutions that you're under.
Be obedient to your authority, you know, the heads of your authority.
Be humble and obedient to the Lord God.
And he will raise you up.
This man Eliakim, I'm sure he's a godly man.
I'm sure this Eliakim has been humble, just waiting for his opportunity, working hard.
And God says to Eliakim, you know what?
You're going to be treasurer instead.
I'm going to lift you up.
I'm going to clothe you with these robes.
And you're going to be like this father.
You're going to have this position of government into your hands.
And you're going to be a help there to King Hezekiah.
Look at verse number 22.
And verse 22 is the key that links this story of these two men
to what we saw there in Revelation chapter 3.
Remember how it said that Christ has the key of David.
Look at verse number 22.
And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder,
so he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open.
Again, the treasurer.
The treasurer is the one who can open the finances.
He says, yes, I approve of this expenditure.
The treasurer is also the one that says, no, we're not going to pay for this.
We're not going to do this.
We're going to close the treasury box.
We're not going to do that.
So he has authority within this kingdom to open and to shut, right?
The treasury there.
But this here is actually speaking of Christ.
There's a double fulfillment, not just to Eliakim,
but to Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation.
In fact, Eliakim here is a type of Christ, is a foreshadowing of Christ.
And let me explain to you very quickly.
Shebna is a type of the antichrist, and Eliakim is a type of Jesus Christ.
We'll look at this shortly.
And I'm going to quickly read to you from Isaiah 9-6.
You don't need to turn there because you all know it.
Just very quickly, Isaiah 9-6, the prophecy of Jesus Christ.
And it says, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.
Look at this.
And the government shall be upon his shoulder.
What did it say there in Isaiah 22?
I will lay upon his shoulder.
The key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder.
And then Isaiah 9-6 continues,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Verse number seven, look at this.
Of the increase of his government and peace,
there shall be no end upon the throne of David
and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever.
So as we're reading Isaiah 22 there,
we're talking about these two men, but it's a picture of Jesus Christ.
When he comes into his kingdom,
the antichrist is going to try to take the kingdoms of this earth.
He's going to lift himself above his station.
When he's empowered, when he's raised from the dead,
he's going to claim to be God.
He's going to claim to be the resurrected Christ,
a position well above his station.
And what's God going to do?
He's going to bring him low.
He's going to destroy the antichrist and be cast into the lake of fire.
And who's going to come in and replace as the king of the earth,
Jesus Christ in his millennial reign?
He's going to have the governments of the earth upon his shoulder.
He's going to usher in the kingdom of God literally and physically
upon this earth for a thousand years.
And let's keep reading Isaiah, sorry, verse number 23 now,
Isaiah 22 verse 23.
This is what God will do to Eliakim, or a type of Christ,
if you want to think about it, of Christ.
And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place
and he shall be for a glorious throne to his Father's house.
See how this is about Jesus Christ the Son
being that glorious throne to his Father's house, God the Father.
It's God the Father that gives Jesus Christ that kingdom for that thousand years.
And it says he will fasten him as a nail in a sure place.
Nothing's going to move Jesus Christ from his kingdom.
He's going to rule and reign there a thousand years.
No one's going to overthrow him.
And at the end of the millennium, there's an attempt to overthrow Christ
and he just utterly destroys him with fire from heaven.
And then in verse number 22, sorry 24,
and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father's house,
the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity
and from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
So we've gone back from Christ to Eliakim, right?
You know, taking care of the things of the house there.
I guess you can expand this to just Christ governing the entire world.
But then verse number 25.
Verse number 25 is about Shebna, back to Shebna,
the one that was replaced or the picture of the Antichrist.
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts,
shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed.
So Shebna tried to be that nail fastened in a sure place
and God says that will be removed and be cut down and fall
and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off for the Lord have spoken it.
Now go back to verse number 22 very quickly,
that being the key verse to this chapter in reference to Christ.
Let's look at it again one more time.
And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder,
we talked about that, upon his shoulder,
the governance of the Christ upon his shoulder,
but we didn't really cover the rest of it.
We did a little bit, but so he shall open and none shall shut
and he shall shut and none shall open.
Let's keep that in mind as you go back to Revelation chapter 3 now.
Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3 verse 7 please.
Revelation chapter 3 verse 7.
Remember it said there, he that hath the key of David,
we didn't finish the rest of the verse though,
he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth.
You see how the connection back there to Isaiah 22.
And it says there that God is the one or Jesus Christ is the one
that opens the doors.
Jesus Christ is also the one that shuts the doors.
He is in charge of your life.
He will be the one that opens the doors of your life.
He is the one that can shut things and when he shuts things you cannot open it.
And if you open something you cannot shut it.
What are some things that Jesus Christ opens?
Of course Jesus Christ says that he is the door of salvation.
He opens the door of salvation.
I'll quickly read to you from John 10.7.
Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door, by me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus Christ is the one who opens the door.
He is the only door to salvation.
Now what I want you to do, you don't need to stay in Isaiah 22 anymore.
Please take that bookmark and go to Luke chapter 8 please.
Luke chapter 8.
Now we love talking about Jesus Christ opening the door of salvation, don't we?
But he also closes the door of salvation.
Luke chapter 8 verse 10.
And make sure you keep a finger there, don't turn away
because we're going to go back to Luke 8 later on.
But Luke 8 verse 10.
And he said unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
but to others in parables.
Why?
That seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand.
You see Jesus Christ also closes the door of salvation on certain people.
This is what we know as the reprobate doctrine.
Once somebody has rejected God, is a hater of God,
crosses a line, a spiritual line with God,
then God has rejected that person.
God blinds that person.
God hardens the heart of that person.
God gives them over to a reprobate mind
and for these individuals the door of salvation is closed.
They cannot see.
It's Christ that opens the door of salvation.
It's whosoever will by the way.
It's open to everybody.
But then for the few that are haters of God,
Jesus Christ will surely shut that door
and when they're cast into hell fire for rejecting Christ,
the door is shut there as well.
Keep your finger there in Luke 8.
We'll come back to that.
It's very important because this will then lead us to the parable of the sower
which again ties in with what we're looking at here in Revelation chapter 3.
What else does he open and close?
Just your life options.
I would really recommend Jesus says,
look, I open doors, I close doors.
Then I would say hold Christ according to his word.
That's what he says he does.
So when you need to make a life decision,
when there are many options and you're not sure which way to go,
Lord, what do you want me to do?
Before I started this church I was like,
Lord, where do you want me to start a church?
I have no idea.
And my request was can you just close the doors
that you don't want me to walk in
and open the doors that you do want me to walk through?
I think that's a great way to pray.
Here's the one that opens.
Here's the one that closes.
You're not sure what to do in life.
You're not sure what the best step is.
Ask Jesus Christ to close certain doors.
He'll close them.
And when he closes them,
you won't be able to open them up again.
And that's the thing I keep forgetting.
I ask Jesus, can you close certain doors?
And then he closes them.
I'm like, why isn't this door opening?
What's going on?
Jesus, he closed this door.
He must be pointing me somewhere else.
And please, hold Christ to his word.
He wants to be the one that opens and closes your doors.
Make sure when you ask him that, though,
you stay committed when he closes those doors.
Leave them closed, right?
You won't be able to open them anyway.
And then go walk through.
This is the key thing, though.
When he opens a door,
you say, man, this is my only option left.
This is the only reasonable option left.
Then you just walk through that door in faith,
even if you don't fully understand
what's on the other side of that door.
But you've asked Christ to do what's best for you
within his will and is going to lead you in the right paths.
He also opens the doors of churches.
Christ is the one that says,
upon this rock, I will build my church.
You try to force to open churches that Christ is not opening,
they're going to remain closed.
Christ is also the one that closes churches.
We saw this before in Revelation 2.5.
He says that he will remove thy candlestick out of his place.
If we're not doing the works that God has asked us to do,
if we get to a state of coldness,
we're not serving the Lord,
we're not doing things right as a church,
the Lord may very well take away that candlestick.
He starts churches.
He opens the door for churches.
He also closed the door on certain churches for whatever reasons.
We see some reasons here
as we're going through these seven churches of Revelation.
What other doors does the Lord open and close?
He opens the womb when he wants.
He'll close the womb when he wants.
It's up to the Lord.
If you're struggling to fall pregnant,
maybe the Lord has closed the door for that point in time,
for whatever reason.
Trust in the Lord.
Trust that he's doing the right thing.
And when he'll open the door, it'll happen.
He's the one that's in charge of opening and closing the wombs.
Let's go, if you guys are still in Revelation chapter 3 verse 8, please.
Revelation chapter 3 verse 8.
And again, just keep your finger there in Luke 8.
We will come back to that.
But Revelation chapter 3 verse 8.
What does Jesus say about this church now?
He goes, I know thy works.
So this church is a working church.
They're serving the Lord.
He says, Behold, I have set before thee an open door.
That makes sense because he just finished saying
he's the one that opens doors.
Why has he opened the door for this church?
What's relevant here?
He says, Look, I've opened before thee an open door,
and no man can shut it.
Why? For thou hast a little strength.
He goes, Look, you're not the strongest church that I have.
But here's the thing about this church.
Jesus says nothing negative about this church.
In fact, if you want to look at something negative,
this is probably the most negative thing you're going to see.
That they've got a little strength.
Jesus Christ is not speaking about it in a negative way.
He's speaking about it in a positive way.
He goes, Look, you've got a little strength.
Maybe they're a smaller church.
Maybe they're not able to do as much work as some of the larger churches.
But he recognizes they've got a little strength.
They're pushing forward.
And this is why he leaves the doors open for this church.
And then it says, And hast kept my word,
and hast not denied my name.
They're a church that love the Word of God.
They're keeping to the Word of God.
And they're not afraid to name Christ and not denying the Lord Jesus.
He sees the little work that's going on,
the little strength that's there in this church.
He says, But because of that, I'm going to make sure a door remains open for you.
You know, a door to go out and preach the Word, right?
A door to go out there and preach the gospel and get people saved.
You know, even potentially in the face of persecution,
it was not going to stop them from being able to do the works of God,
from preaching the Word of God, because Jesus is the one that kept the door open.
And we need to ask the Lord and petition him,
Please, Lord, keep our door open here on the Sunshine Coast.
Please allow no man to ever close the door that we can, you know, preach the gospel
and do the works that you've called us to do.
The Lord was always going to keep that door open,
even when others were trying to close it.
Now, they're going to be able to serve the Lord in freedom,
without the persecution, without being stopped, you know.
So this church has been given a great promise here from Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number nine, Behold.
Now we see who was trying to persecute this church, right?
Who were the ones that were trying to stop the works?
They were trying to close the door that Jesus Christ kept open.
Who were they? Behold, I will make them, who?
Of the synagogue of Satan.
Say Satan, the synagogue.
Who's this? Well, we've covered this before, right?
This is speaking about the Jews, okay?
And in particular, those of the religious sect of Judaism, okay?
Those that were against Jesus Christ, those that are against the churches of Christ.
It says here, which say they are Jews and are not.
Hey, who says they're Jews and worships in synagogues?
Judaism, right?
Those that follow after Judaism, those that set their religious house
in what they call a synagogue.
And it says, look, they're not Jews and are not, but do lie.
Hey, they lie when they say they are Jews.
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet
and to know that I have loved thee.
Loved who? The church, okay?
The New Testament believers, this church here.
So you know where the persecution is coming from?
From the Jews, but Christ is not allowing them to stop them from preaching the gospel.
Praise God for that.
I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter 2 verse 28.
You guys know it.
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.
All right?
So those that are outward Jews, you know, they've got their little hats,
they've got those long sideburns or whatever's going on.
Jesus says, look, they're not a Jew outwardly,
neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh.
Being circumcised in the flesh doesn't make you a Jew.
Verse number 29, but he is a Jew, I want to know who the Jew is.
You know, I don't want someone to lie to me and say, hey, I'm a Jew.
No, I want to know who is a Jew, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly.
And circumcision is that of the heart.
We've covered this just recently as we're going through the book of Genesis, right?
The one who believes in Christ has been circumcised in the heart,
has put away the flesh.
There's no trust in the flesh whatsoever.
And here it says circumcised in the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.
Hey, that not being the law, the letter being the law of God.
Hey, we're not saved by keeping the commandments.
We're not saved by keeping the letter of the law.
No, that's what the false Jews are trying to do.
Whose praise is not of men, but of God.
So we see immediately who is a Jew.
The believer of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you believe on Jesus Christ, you are a Jew inwardly.
You've been circumcised in the heart.
We've looked at this before.
That's the true Jew.
Anyone else that says, hey, I'm a Jew, but they don't believe on Christ,
hey, they're lying.
They're on the synagogue of Satan and their heart,
their desire is to persecute Christ and his churches.
That's just the truth of it.
If you get into that religion or those of that religion,
that's where their heart is.
That's where their spirit is.
It's a spirit of antichrist seeking to destroy the churches of Christ.
Now look at verse number nine again.
He says, look, I don't have any reasons not to take this literally.
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet
and to know that I have loved thee.
You know the Jews today, they don't think that God loves you.
They think God loves them.
They think they are special, chosen people.
They're trying to hold onto the coat skins of the Old Testament Israelites.
And they think they're special.
And God loves them, right?
No, no, no, no.
These guys, these Jews that were persecuted in Christ and his church,
they're going to be brought before believers one day.
Now they're not going to worship.
We know they're not going to worship men, okay?
But what I take out of this is they're basically going to be groveling at the feet of believers.
You know, those that were persecuted in the people of God
and they're going to realize, wow, God loved you.
You know, God loved you.
In fact, he loved you so much he sent Jesus Christ down the cross for you
and we rejected him.
We nailed him to the cross.
And, you know, I don't know exactly when this is going to take place.
Probably the great white throne judgment, I don't know.
But, you know, these Jews that were persecuted in churches
are going to be humiliated, brought before the feet of believers
to just acknowledge that, no, God loves you.
And God loves you, by the way.
God loves you.
He gave his only begotten son.
Verse number 10, please.
Now this is such an interesting passage or verse here.
Because thou hast kept the word...
Well, we saw before that they kept the word.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation
which shall come upon all the world and try them that dwell upon the earth.
Now this is a proof text for our brethren that believe in the pre-tribulation rapture.
Okay.
Now if you ask them, hey, can you show me a verse in the Bible
that shows that the rapture is before the tribulation, the pre-trib rapture,
this is one of those key verses they'll take you to, right?
So this is how they read it.
They'll read it like this.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, whatever that means to them,
I will also keep thee...
So the keep thee is basically I'm going to rapture you away, all right,
from the hour, and the hour there is, well, seven years, okay.
You've got to understand, okay, you've got to really understand the Bible.
You need to learn dispensationalism.
You need to go to Bible college so you can understand
what the Bible's really trying to say here, all right.
An hour is seven years.
Don't you know that?
Don't you know?
You should know that.
You have the Spirit of God, don't you?
You should know.
The Holy Spirit should be telling you right now that an hour is seven years, surely,
and from the hour of temptation, all right, again, the Spirit of God,
I'm sure he's working your hearts right now
and changing the words temptation there to the great tribulation.
Okay.
The great tribulation here, you know, you know,
God says he will rapture you from the seven years of the great tribulation
which shall come upon all the world and try them that dwell upon the earth.
See, the rapture's before the great tribulation.
Are you foolish?
No.
We just believe the Bible, all right.
Let's just keep it within the context of what we're saying.
And, you know, I will admit this has probably been one of the more challenging verses for me
to explain to my pre-trib friends, you know,
because before I didn't really have an answer to what this is.
Now, I know their answer is wrong because they're just making things up
as they read into it, but what is this actually talking about?
And I hope you guys are still in the book of Luke.
Go back to Luke chapter 8 verse 10, please.
Luke chapter 8 verse 10.
And you'll see how well the parable of the sower ties in with what we're seeing here
with the church of Philadelphia, okay.
Remember, God has opened a door for them, all right, to preach the gospel.
And, of course, the parable of the sower is about preaching the gospel, all right.
Luke chapter 8 verse 10, let's just read that one again.
And he said unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God
but to others in parables that seeing they might not see
and hearing they might not understand.
So, again, just touching upon the fact that Christ is the one that opens
and closes the doors for certain people, right.
Now, let's keep reading. Verse number 11.
Now, the parable is this.
The seed is the word of God, all right.
And what do we see?
That the church of Philadelphia were keeping the word of God, weren't they?
Let's keep going. Verse number 12.
Those by the wayside are they that hear then cometh the devil
and taketh away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved.
So, what is it that we need to do to be saved?
We need to believe the word of God.
But these guys, this example that fell on the wayside,
they didn't believe the devil took that away.
And, again, it makes sense that the devil would appear here
because we just read about the synagogue of Satan, you know,
trying to prevent this church from getting the gospel out to their community.
Verse number 13.
They on the rock are they, look at this,
which when they hear receive the word with joy.
So, these are people that receive the word.
And these have no roots which for a while believe.
Hey, so these guys do believe the word.
They do believe the gospel, right?
What's the condition to be saved?
We saw in verse number 12 to believe these are saved people.
But look at this.
And in the time of temptation fall away.
What did we see in Revelation chapter 3?
That God will keep the Philadelphia church because they're doing the works of God.
They're going to keep them from the hour of temptation, okay?
What's the hour of temptation?
We always go through hours of temptation.
Every time you commit a sin, every day you commit a sin,
there's a period of time where you're tempted first to commit that sin.
There's a period of time where you decide,
am I going to fight against this?
Am I going to give in to the temptation?
Or I'm not going to give in to the temptation?
And Jesus says, look, I'm going to help you.
I'm going to help you in this hour of temptation.
Why? Because you've kept the word.
I'm going to keep you from the hour of temptation.
What did Jesus say when he prayed to the Father?
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
You see, if we're holding fast, we're keeping to the word of God,
you're going to have greater success at overcoming that hour of temptation when it comes your way.
But you need to keep the word.
Remember that was put together there with that church.
Let's keep going. Verse number 14, please.
Verse number 14.
And that which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard go forth
and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life
and bring no fruit to perfection.
Verse number 15.
And that on the good ground are they,
this is a representation of the church in Philadelphia, by the way,
which is an honest and good heart,
which in an honest and good heart having heard the word,
keep it and bring forth fruits with patience.
Okay?
So what are we commanded to do?
What should we do with the word once we're saved,
once we believe the word, we're commanded,
if we're going to be fruitful, we need to keep the word, right?
We need to keep it and bring forth fruits with patience.
You know, soul winning requires patience.
Growing in the Lord requires patience.
Growing as a church requires patience.
You know, learning the doctrines of the Bible requires patience.
And God, Jesus Christ calls his word, his patience.
You know, the Bible that we have before us,
it shows us the patience of God with us to reveal his truths.
And he says, look, yes, hear it, but keep it.
We ought to be people that read our Bibles, that study our Bibles,
that memorize the words, that hear the words, that do the words.
We need to do all these things in patience.
And if we do it patiently, we're going to be fruitful.
Okay?
You hold to the word of God, you're going to have greater success
in that hour of temptation.
Jesus Christ will ensure and help you along that fight.
Okay?
That spiritual battle to overcome sins in your life.
I mean, Jesus Christ did it himself when he was faced with the temptations of the devil.
How did he fight it?
By quoting scripture, by having memorized scripture,
quoted scriptures out of his mouth,
and that helped him to overcome the temptations that came from the devil.
Back to Revelation chapter 3, please.
Revelation chapter 3, verse 11.
If you guys have any other questions about that verse in number 10,
please feel free to ask me.
But I hope you realize just how well it, you know,
corresponds with what we're seeing here in Revelation chapter 3.
The parable of the sower.
Verse number 11.
Jesus Christ is reminding the church, look, don't lose your rewards.
You know, keep working hard.
Keep serving.
You know, make use of the door that I've opened.
Make sure that you don't lose your rewards.
And the picture that I get of the Bible is that, you know, for each one of us,
you know, Christ has given us the parable of the talents.
Christ has given us different abilities.
God's, you know, Christ has given us different, you know, talents and skills
and maybe, you know, some with more money.
Maybe some with more, you know, maybe better speakers.
Or, you know, we're all different, okay?
And it's like Christ has a set amount of rewards
that he wants each one of us to achieve and to receive.
But when we fail in our work, when we don't walk in the Lord,
when we don't do the work that he's given us,
that's where we can lose our reward.
Not that we've lost anything that we've earned,
but that we don't get the full measure, we don't get the full portion
of what Christ would have wanted to give us at the time.
So he's reminding us, church, look, let no one take your crown away.
You know, don't let man stop you.
We saw, again, who were those men that were trying to stop them?
That was the Jews that are not.
Okay, that lie.
Verse number 12.
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.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So just very quickly, you know, if you're saved,
you're going to make up a pillar in the temple of God.
When Jesus says my God, he's talking about the Father, okay?
And again, Christ rules and reigns for a thousand years.
Once all the enemies, once everything is subject under Christ,
then Christ will hand that kingdom over to the Father.
And that's when the Father creates the new heavens and the new earth.
And what's important about the new earth?
Well, that's where the city of God comes in, right?
The new Jerusalem, once again, will come down,
and our names, as it were, or some type of, you know,
a reflection of ourselves will be upon that city.
You know, the pillars that make up that city,
somehow there will be a pillar with your name on it.
You know, I'm going to walk around the pillar and go,
that's Brother Jason's pillar right there,
and that's Brother Callum's pillar right there.
You know, to those that overcometh,
everyone that is saved is going to have a pillar
that is recognised for who they were,
that they had received Christ, that they had overcome the world.
What a promise.
Because when we compare it with Isaiah 22 with Shebna,
he was trying to make a name for himself, wasn't he?
And his reputation was brought down low.
He was ashamed, okay?
What is salvation?
Salvation is humility.
We humble ourselves before the Lord Jesus Christ
and accept his way of salvation.
And when we humble ourselves, God will exalt us
and give us a pillar in his temple in the new city,
the city of God there.
And we need to go to Galatians chapter 4.
Please go to Galatians chapter 4.
I was trying to save this Galatians chapter 4
for our series in Genesis,
but I feel like I still have to cover it here
because we're dealing with believers
that have been persecuted by the synagogue of Satan,
by the Jews that say they are Jews and are not.
And again, we're dealing with the city of God,
New Jerusalem.
And Galatians chapter 4 verse 22 has this story.
And if you guys are aware, of course,
we're going through the book of Genesis
and we have the story of Abraham
and how he committed adultery, if you will,
with Hagar and had his son Ishmael.
And then God had promised Abraham
that he and his Sarah would give birth to Isaac.
And this basically takes the story of the Old Testament
and builds an allegory or illustration of a truth today
in Galatians chapter 4 verse 22.
For it is written that Abraham had two sons,
the one by a bondmaid and the other by a free woman.
The bondmaid, of course, being Hagar
and the free woman being Sarah.
Verse 23.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh,
but he of the free woman was by promise.
Of course, Isaac was the promised child.
Verse 24.
Which things are an allegory or like a story, an illustration.
For these are the two covenants.
What are the two covenants?
The Old Testament, the New Testament.
The one from Mount Sinai,
it's Moses that received the commandments
and the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai,
which generative to bondage, which is Hagar.
Hagar basically is Hagar.
They dropped the H here in the New Testament,
but Hagar is Hagar.
And he's saying, look, those that are trying to be saved by the law,
by the old covenant, by the law that was given to Abraham in Sinai,
are in bondage.
Why are they in bondage?
Because they're not free from the law.
They can never complete the law.
They can never do the law.
And of course, the Jews today,
they're trying to be saved by the law.
The Jews today, those of Judaism are trying to be saved by keeping the law.
Verse number 25.
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,
and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is,
and is in bondage with her children.
So there is a Jerusalem, which now is,
at that point in time, of course, that was Jerusalem there in Israel.
And that's her children.
Those of Judaism.
Judaism.
Those of the old covenant trying to be saved by the old covenant.
They're still in bondage.
They're being represented by Ishmael.
Now again, there's nothing wrong with Hagar and Ishmael as people.
I believe they were saved.
Again, this is an allegory.
This is a story.
This is an illustration of the truth today between the Jews
that are trying to keep the Old Testament laws for salvation
and the believers in Christ that are saved by the new covenant,
the second covenant.
Verse number 26.
But Jerusalem, there is another Jerusalem.
But Jerusalem, which is above, is free,
which is the mother of us all.
For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren, thou berest not.
Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not.
For the desolate have many more children than she which have an husband.
Now we, brethren, we, brethren, Galatians, church,
New Testament church, Galatians, if you're a believer in Christ,
we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Because later on, as we get through the book of Genesis,
you'll see how Ishmael was kind of mocking Isaac or mocking Sarah
and they were cast out.
We'll cover that later on.
But in the same way that Ishmael was mocking Isaac
is in the same way that the Jews mock Christianity,
especially in the time of Philadelphia,
they were facing persecution there from the synagogue of Satan, from the Jews.
And verse number 30,
Nevertheless, what saith the scripture,
cast out the bondwoman and the son,
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.
Listen to me.
The Jews today, those that follow after Judaism will not,
what did it say there?
Will not inherit the promises with us.
Will not.
They're not a second people of God.
They're not a people of God.
They're not going to inherit the promises.
Guess who's going to inherit the promises?
You, believers, because we're in Christ.
Because we're saved by grace through faith.
They will not be heirs with us.
We're going to receive the full inheritance
that probably these people there in that land should be receiving it.
It should be theirs.
They have the scriptures.
God has worked through that nation of Israel in the past.
It should be theirs.
But they've rejected Christ.
And we have received Christ.
So we're going to be heirs.
Verse number 31,
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
I don't want your Christianity, your faith to feel like bondage.
It shouldn't be bondage.
Your faith ought to be a faith of freedom, of liberty.
And the only way you feel that way is when you walk in a new man.
If you're trying to keep the laws of God, the commands of God in the flesh,
it's going to feel like prison.
It's going to feel like, man, it's so hard.
The stands of God so hard.
But when you're walking in the Spirit, it's really easy.
In fact, I love it because it makes me feel free.
I'm in liberty.
I have sin.
I'm walking after his ways.
So I'll probably go through Galatians 4 again when we go through the book of Genesis in a little bit more detail.
But I hope you see the connections there with what we saw with the church in Philadelphia.
God saw them as a great church even though they only had a little strength.
And that's the key thing.
We need to be a church that has a little strength.
We're a small church.
When we're here on Sundays, we get to about 40-something, mid-40s maybe.
We're a small church compared to some of the other churches.
But if we have a little strength, if we keep to the Word of God,
we desire to overcome the temptation that comes in our lives.
We do these things.
Jesus promises that he's going to keep the door open.
And no one's going to be able to close it,
meaning that we'll be able to continue doing the works of God,
getting out there, preaching the gospel.
Let's pray.