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Body Building - God's Way - Revelation 3:7-13

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The human body has become the obsession of our modern culture. Much like the ancient Greeks, people are madly trying to fit the contemporary ideal of what is an acceptable shape and size. The church is metaphorically called the "Body of Christ" and His desire is to see it built up spiritually. The church of Philadelphia is a good model of a healthy, faithful church. Their example provides for us a template to follow in building up the Body - God's Way!

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7/28/1996
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Body Building - God's Way
Revelation 3:7-13
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
The human body has become the obsession of our modern culture. Much like the ancient Greeks, people are madly trying to fit the contemporary ideal of what is an acceptable shape and size. The church is metaphorically called the "Body of Christ" and His desire is to see it built up spiritually. The church of Philadelphia is a good model of a healthy, faithful church. Their example provides for us a template to follow in building up the Body - God's Way!
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66 Revelation - History's Last Chapter - 1996

66 Revelation - History's Last Chapter - 1996

The book of Revelation exalts Jesus Christ as the soon-coming Lord over the earth. Skip Heitzig explains the amazing and mysterious prophecies that form God's final word to mankind.

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This ancient congregation was:

  1. A CHURCH UNDER AUTHORITY
  2. A CHURCH IN REVIVAL
  3. A CHURCH OF OPPORTUNITY
  4. A CHURCH WITH A FUTURE

APPLY THIS STUFF:

  1. Take a personal test: Write out or articulate exactly who Jesus Christ is to you. Does your description match the Scriptures? Is your life under His authority? Really?

  2. What doors have you walked through lately? The door of salvation? The door of service? How does your future reward impact your present opportunities?

Transcript

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It's a great name for a church, isn't it? Philadelphia. It means brotherly love. Now when you hear the name, don't think Philly steak sandwiches or Rocky Balboa. It's not that Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. It would be the Philadelphia in Asia Minor, but it was a notable church. It was a strong church. You know that there's no such thing as a perfect church. There are good ones but there are no perfect churches. Now why is that? Well, look around. Do you see any perfect people? There are no perfect people, we are all riddled with weaknesses, and we all have our imperfections. We are humans and I think a good description of God's people, even those who are redeemed, now certainly all humanity would be this description, but even those of us who are redeemed with our faults, are in the words of Jesus Himself when He said, I was called to preach the gospel to the poor. I was sent to heal the brokenhearted. I was sent to proclaim liberty to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed. Mark that group: poor, brokenhearted, captive, blind, and oppressed. That is a messy bunch of people. And you put us all together in one big room and there are imperfections.

Somebody not too long ago handed me a list of bulletin bloopers. These are excerpts of different bulletins from different churches around the country and they're actual announcements that were in the bulletins. Either a word was misapplied or the way it was worded could have a double meaning. Here are some of these bloopers. One of them said: don't let worry kill you, let the church help. Now we know what they meant by that, but it comes across goofy. Another bulletin of a church said, Thursday night will be a potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow. Rather than meditation to follow. Another one: remember the many that are sick of our church and community. One bulletin had: for those who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs. Here's one: the rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belsar the sin of Reverend and Mrs. Belsar. One church had a baptismal announcement: this afternoon there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church, children will be baptized at both ends. Wouldn't that be a sight? Finally one bulletin of a church said: at this evening's service, the sermon topic will be 'what is hell' come early and listen to our choir practice.

Those are innocent misprints. But they point to a fundamental truth: namely, we all have bloopers. We all have faults. Whether we are a group of people or individuals, we have problems. So did this church at Philadelphia. It was not a perfect church; it was a strong church, it was a noteworthy church. In fact, this is a welcome change this morning because Jesus has nothing scathing to say to this church. So far we've seen the list where He says, these are some good points; here's some bad points--so do this. Then we came last week to the church at Sardis where He had nothing good to say. To the church of Philadelphia, He has nothing bad to say. And so we want to take this as the marks of a faithful church, or as I've called this message this morning, 'Body Building God's Way.' This is the Body of Christ; this is a strong and a healthy body. And it's built up God's way.

I remember when I lived in southern California. I would take long walks on the beach and I would tell God this: God, if You ever call me away from this, there are two things I will miss. Number one, my home fellowship--my church. And number two, this ocean. But it was in that order. It was not reversed. Because the church that I belonged to, though it wasn't perfect, was vibrant. It was alive. It was not perfect but it was a prominent church that made an impact on the community. In fact, the church of Philadelphia sort of reminds me of my native California because Philadelphia was also called the City of Earthquakes in ancient times. Tremors happened there frequently in this area of ancient Asia Minor and people would often have to flee the city to find shelter out in the open country. In fact, in 17 AD, an earthquake that leveled the city of Sardis almost totally destroyed the city of Philadelphia. It was rebuilt and now it was prominent and there is a prominent church in this city at the time that this letter is written.

So let's look now at the four marks of a perfect church. First of all, we'll read it all together: "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie--indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

The first mark that I notice in this little list is that this church was a church under authority. They were under the authority of God. Jesus comes and introduces Himself as One who has authority, One who holds the keys, which is always a mark of authority in the Scripture. I used to listen to a man named Bob Vernon in Southern California. He was an assistant police chief to the LAPD. And he said they were often called upon to get into certain doors, go through certain openings that were barred in the city to investigate a crime or to arrest someone and so they would always bring with them what they called the key to the city of Los Angeles. He said, We just named it that. What it actually was a big, solid iron pipe. It was just a big long tube filled with iron, had handles on it. Several guys had to carry it and they would bust the doors down and they called it the key to the city because they could get into any door with it. They had authority as the police and they had the tools to get in. Jesus comes as the One who is holy, the One who is true, the One with the keys. The One with the authority.

Notice it says, These things says He who is holy. That, in the Old Testament, if you were Jewish listening to this, you would think of the name of God. For God would often introduce Himself as the Holy One of Israel or the One who is Holy. That is a name only given to God. Jesus uses it. I'm the One who's holy. And then He says, the One who is true. Literal translation: genuine, authentic. So the first mark of a true church is a church that lives under the authority of the genuine, the true, the authentic Jesus Christ. You might say at this point, well are there others that I don't know about? I thought there was only one Jesus. You're right. There is only one true Jesus. But people have concocted up different Jesuses in their own mind. I picture Jesus as... My view of God is... But a true church is under the authority of the Bible revealed Jesus. The true and the authentic Jesus Christ. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 'I fear lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes to you preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, you may well put up with it.' He's saying that you might allow teachers to come in who proclaim the name Jesus but they attach attributes and ideologies to Him that really don't represent the biblical Jesus. There are other Jesuses today. For instance, the Unitarians say that Jesus is no more or less divine than you or I. That is not the biblical Jesus. The Jesus of the Jehovah's Witnesses is God's first created creature, alias Michael the Archangel. That is not the biblical Jesus. The Jesus of Christian Science, well, they say if Jesus ever existed at all is it irrelevant. It's the concept that counts. The Jesus of the Mormons is among the spirit children of Elohim, that's their own words. So a church, to be a true church, has to be under the true authority of the true Jesus Christ, the One who is authentic.

William White was the editor of a newspaper. As an editor he would receive articles written by people in the community to be submitted to the newspaper to be published. Often times, because editors receive so many articles, they have to send them back to the one who wrote them with a rejection notice. I'm sorry we can't publish your article. Nice try--try again. He did that on one occasion when one lady submitted her article. She wrote back a scathing letter that said: Sir, you sent back a story of mine and I know that you didn't even read it because as a test I pasted together pages nineteen and twenty. The manuscript came back to me with the pages still stuck together. So I know that you, sir, are a fraud and that you turn down articles without even reading them. Well, the editor wrote back this brief reply: Madam, at breakfast when I eat an egg, I don't have to eat it all to determine if it's bad. Now you can apply that to other systems of thought, philosophies, religions. You don't have to know all of what they believe. Every tenet. Just find out the kernel. What do they say about Jesus? Who is He? Is He the Holy One? Is He God in human flesh? Is He the Messiah? Is He the One who saves? Is He the only name to call upon? That is the One in the New Testament. That's the real Jesus and He approaches this church with authority and they are under it.

Second mark is that they're a church in revival. We notice in the following verse, He says, I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have [notice this] a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. The word strength there in that verse is the Greek word you're familiar with. We get our word dynamite or dynamic or dynamo from it--it means power. But notice Jesus says to that church, not you have great power, you have a little bit. You have a little strength. I love it. This is not a high-powered super church. This is not a church that brags of its accomplishments. Jesus said, you've got a little bit of strength. Sometimes we hear ministry reports, do we not? Of how great our ministry is, how great our church is, what great things we have done. If the truth be known, at best, we have little strength. That's Jesus' commendation. His notice of this church. What I also notice is that, though we live in this day and age where we have modern technology, we have the printing press for many years, now we have the internet and we're all over the internet, Christian ministries are, and there are radios and television ministries and all sorts of great ways to get the message out. I still think, given all of those tools, we have a little strength because if I compare the modern church to the early church, who did so much with so little, I think of twelve fishermen who went out and changed the entire Roman Mediterranean world by preaching the gospel without any of that. I would say we have little strength. But my point here is that another way to translate the words little strength can refer to a person who's reviving. It was used sometimes of people who were weak but were getting stronger, they were reviving. So here's a church undergoing a revival. They have little strength, but they're returning back to the New Testament roots. They're returning back to the Lord and they're gaining strength.

Because they were weak, they were perfectly fit as the object of God's strength. In fact, I think one of the prerequisites for revival is to not say, I am so strong, I am so awesome, I am so confident, but to say, I am so weak and I need God's strength. People who are in revival are people who know they need it and they crave for God's power and God's strength. Would you say this morning you have a little strength, you have a little time, you have a little bit of talent, a little bit of energy, a little bit of money? You might say, I don't really have much. I feel so inadequate. Then you are a perfect candidate for true revival. A young girl in the 1500s, Spanish girl nicknamed Teresa Dejesus, became known as St. Teresa, and had it in her heart to build an entire orphanage. The only problem? She had three shillings. But she said God put it in my heart, I'm going to build an orphanage. And people would jeer her and mock her, what could you do with three shillings toward building an orphanage? Her reply was this, Teresa with three shillings can do nothing, but with three shillings and with God to help her, there is nothing that Teresa cannot do. She had little strength and she offered that to a great and powerful God who is able to revive.

Something about revival before we move on, because we uncover the reasons here. Revival usually doesn't happen en masse, like a national revival. Nor is it something you turn on and off. You don't get revival by posting a sign: Revival this week only from 7:30-9:00pm Monday through Saturday. You don't switch on; you don't switch it off. In fact, revival begins with one person or a few people who recognize they have not much strength but they desire God's power and God's strength so much that they seek Him with all of their hearts. That's where revival begins. In fact, revival can begin with you. If you are the kind to say, we need revival, let's turn it around and say, I need revival. Rather than saying, well if only other Christians would change, if only my husband would change, if only that wife of mine would change, if only my pastor would change, if only those song leaders would change. Finney said, 'revival begins when God points His finger at you.' You get turned on to Jesus Christ. You get set on fire and you while ignite others because that kind of faith is contagious. Gypsy Smith, who was a revivalist, his philosophy on it. He said, 'If you want revival, go inside your room, close the door, lock it, get on the floor and draw a circle around yourself and pray that God would revive everything inside the circle--not outside.' When God has answered your prayer you have revival. It is on. And it is contagious.

We notice why this church is gaining strength. It says in verse eight, 'Because you have kept My word and have not denied My name.' It's a church in revival because it's a church of the Word. Allow me to read that verse to you in the Amplified Bible. I think it will color it enough to get the flavor: 'I know that you have but a little strength but you have kept My word and you have guarded My message.' What a great church to hang out in. Every time you would go to the church of Philadelphia it was a church that was in the Word. It was a church that loved the Word. Now let me remark about the purpose of any church. The church is a place for fellowship. That is, we come because we want to be with other people who believe in God like we do and we're strengthened. It's a place of relationship building. We want to know other people and get our gifts given to them and their gifts given to us and we build relationships and that kind of love over a period of time. It's also a place for social action, as we see a project that needs to get done and as a group we go out to meet those needs. Those are all great reasons to gather. But primarily the church is where we got taught the Scriptures. Primarily. You say, how do you know that? Remember the list in the very first church in the book of Acts? This is before organizations, denominations, before structure--it was just the infant church. It's beginning stages. Acts 2:42: 'And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching, in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayer.' That was their priority list. And at the heart of every true revival there is the rediscovery of those priorities and topping the list is the Word of God. That was their list.

Whenever we open the Bible and we are opened to what God has in it, have you found that God is able to take virtually any place in the Bible, when your heart is open, and deal with your heart at that place? Just speaks something to you. How often I hear people say something like, how did you know what I was going through this week? That you would speak directly to it? I didn't know, but God did know. And God has that uncanny ability to meet the need. It's sort of like the company that owned a fancy machine that broke down and they couldn't get it fixed. They called in the company mechanic; he couldn't get it fixed. The whole business was shut down. Finally they called in an expert from out-of-town to look at the machine. It was his specialty. He looked over the situation for a while, he finally pulled out a hammer and gave it a little bing and the machine went on and business resumed as usual. This expert gave his bill to the company. $1,000. So the owner demanded that this worker itemize his bill. Where's the money going to? Give me an itemization. And so the expert gave him as follows: $1.00 for hitting the machine, $999.00 for knowing where to hit the machine. You could bang on that thing all day long but unless you know where to hit it, it won't do any good. The Word of God is so much like that. It hits us exactly in the area that motivates us or challenges us or will change us.

And if ever there is a time when the church needs to keep the Word of God, to guard the message, this time is now. Because as history is moving on, more and more churches are becoming, to accommodate the system of the world, they're becoming very long on philosophy, very long on psychology, very long on social action, very short, very dim, very weak on truth, very weak in theology. Guard the message. Paul said to young Timothy, that was back then, preach the word, man. Be instant in season and out of season for the time is coming, said Paul, when people will no longer endure sound doctrine. Preach the Word. So the early church continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine. And here's a church that modeled that. Some people when they think about that list that I just mentioned in Acts, the apostle's doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer. You think of all the things that aren't on there. Love isn't mentioned, isn't that interesting? And Jesus said that's the mark of a true church--love. Here's the church of brotherly love. Yet it doesn't say they continued steadfastly in love but in the apostle's doctrine first. Why? Because the Word teaches you how to love. The Word teaches you that the greatest demonstration of love is God sending His Son on the cross. The Bible teaches you to love one another and in what ways to love. The Bible teaches you what not to love: love neither the world nor the things that are in the world. So all of our cues and our behavior, even in our love, are found in the Word of God.

So Jesus commends them as a church under authority, a church that is coming back to life. They're weak but they're trusting His strength and they're a church of the Word. There's another mark of their revival. It's because they are a loyal church. Jesus says, you have not denied My name. Verse nine, Indeed I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie, indeed I will make them come in worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere. I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.

Here's a church that was loyal. They held fast to the name of Jesus Christ. He gave a command to persevere. They kept the perseverance all the way to the end until the time Jesus writes this letter. And I believe that there is a definite temptation today, a definite temptation, to deny the Lord. As even many believers start questioning, is it worth it, it gets difficult living this Christian life. I am challenged all day long. People ask me questions about other things, I can't answer them and it's tough. With all of the opposition that I get. In fact, Jesus even asked, when the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth? A very searching question. Well the church at Philadelphia endured opposition. What kind of opposition? Verse nine would indicate that there were a number of people in the Jewish community who were persecuting the Christians in their community. And perhaps it was simply that they were Jewish people who converted to love Jesus as their Messiah and they were kicked out of the synagogue. And there's the temptation now, hey don't be so vocal, don't be so verbal about your faith. Remember, religion and politics, you be quiet about those things. Don't rock the boat. But the Christians at Philadelphia would not buy into that philosophy. They did not stop speaking. They continued to share. They didn't soften the message. They were loyal.

Loyalty as I see it separates the mature from the immature. Separates the true professional who goes on to victory from the amateur. One example of loyalty, perseverance, that we have seen this week is in the Olympics. You'll have seen, if you've read the newspapers or watched any television at all, about 18-year-old Kerri Strug who went on, by her perseverance to win the team gold medal for the women's gymnastics. She had already an injured ankle, she landed on it wrong and the ankle was taped up. It was her turn to vault again, even with a weak ankle, her coach said, we needed at least a 9.6 for the dream to come true for everybody. And so I asked her, we need one more vault, can you give me one more vault? He said Kerri looked at the coach and said, yes, I can. The coach said, as she headed down the runway, she kept shaking that ankle, saying, I will, I will, I will and she did. Oh, we need that kind of loyalty and perseverance in God's kingdom. We've all known many Christians who begin with a bang and end with a whimper, right? They think Christianity is a fifty-yard dash. I ran a few laps, but did you finish the race, as Paul said? Make it all the way through to the very end?

Thirdly, this is a church of opportunity. Jesus introduces Himself as the One who opens the door and no one shuts, shuts and no one opens. In verse eight, I know your works and see I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it. What does that mean, an open door? We could make several guesses and probably all of them are correct but I think one of them is most accurate. First of all, it could be the door of salvation. Jesus said, I am the door, whoever enters by Me shall be saved, John 10. He said on the Sermon on the Mount, enter the narrow gate for wide is the path that leads to destruction and many people go that way but very narrow, constricted, is the door, or the gate that leads to eternal life. Go in that gate. Today God has opened up a door of salvation to us, that anybody can come. One day that door will be closed and will be locked and there will be no more chances. But now the door is open wide. Have you walked through that door? Jesus said, behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone will open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me. Have you done that? That's the door of salvation.

Number two, He could be talking about the door of safety. Safety from the judgment, the tribulation that would come upon the earth. And certainly that's true as well, verse ten, because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who are on the earth. It implies that when He judges in tribulation the earth, that the Philadelphia-like church will be removed before that time. They won't undergo it. Look at chapter four verse one, it says, after these things I looked and a door was standing open in heaven and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying, come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. Now we know what happens. Immediately, John is snatched up into heaven and he speaks about the judgment, but he sees it from a bird's-eye view--from heaven. The church is mentioned nineteen times in chapters one to three beginning in chapter four it is never mentioned once in the entire book. It's conspicuously absent when the judgment begins. So He could be speaking about the fact that the door of safety for this church, as they would be caught up before the tribulation.

So here we have a church that is loyal, standing up strong, weak but trusting in Jesus' strength, and waiting for the coming until the Lord removes them from the earth. There's an old Southern preacher who used to pray this prayer: it's time for our church to wake up and to sing up, to preach up, to pray up, and never give up or let up or back up or shut up until the church is filled up or we go up. Amen. Great stuff.

Thirdly, and probably this is exactly what it means, I believe it's the door of opportunity. The door of service. Look, I've set before you an open door. And so often in the New Testament, a door is something you go in as an opportunity to serve God. Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter sixteen and says, I will come to you after I go through Macedonia for a great and an effective door has opened and there are many adversaries. In 2 Corinthians chapter two, he writes and he says, furthermore when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, a door was opened to me by the Lord. And then to the Colossians in chapter four verse three, meanwhile pray for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains. I think He's speaking of a door of opportunity. And certainly Philadelphia was so located strategically on the plain of southern or mid-point Turkey that it could reach out to some many of the other cities. The roads where the great Roman armies marched through came through that town. The merchant roads came through that town. Looking out from Philadelphia, you could see the kingdom of Lydia and Mycia and Pergia. They could have people passing tracts out on the road; having Christian concerts on the roads--who knows. They had a great opportunity.

Now we have a great opportunity. God has opened for us a door of service that no one can shut. The problem is, we don't always look for them. We're praying, God open a door and there's an open one right here. All around us. Opportunities to share Christ with unbelievers. In our neighborhood, in our work, in our family, in our community. A young man went up to Charles Spurgeon, the great Victorian preacher in London, and he said, 'Mr. Spurgeon, God has put it in my heart to win souls for Christ. What should I do about that call?' Spurgeon said, 'What do you do for a living?' He said, 'I drive an engine. I'm an engineer for the railroad.' Spurgeon said, 'Well, surely you have a fireman. Is he saved?' He said, 'I don't know.' He said, 'Go find out. Begin with the fireman and find out if he is saved and start with him.' We have those kinds of doors all around us, don't we? Opportunities all around us. Some of you are musicians, writers, mechanics, engineers, teachers, housewives. All of us have those open doors. Even Olympic athletes have those open doors. I was so elated to find out that there were many of our athletes at the Olympics who were not there just to get a gold medal--but to win people for Christ. David Robinson from the US Men's Basketball team, this is his third trip to the Olympics, said, 'This is a great opportunity for me to model Jesus Christ in front of a lot of people.' What an attitude. Tara Cross from the US Women's Volleyball gave her life to Jesus in 1990. She said, 'In the past few months I've been getting all of this recognition and I'm struggling to keep it in perspective, not letting it go to my head. I'm reminding myself that I'm not playing for fame but for Him. And I know that He'll take care of the rest.' What an attitude. That is seeing an open door.

So let's sum it up so far: it's a church under authority of the authentic sovereign Jesus Christ. It is a church in revival. They are weakened but coming back to life because they have the Word of God and because they are loyal to His name and persevering. It is a church that is walking through doors of opportunity; they are not stagnant. Finally, it's a church with a future. There are a few promises that are given. Verse nine Jesus says, your enemies will be humbled which is a great twist of fate as they're being persecuted. Jesus said they will be humbled. In verse ten, you will be kept from the tribulation. And finally in verse twelve, the promises I will make him a pillar in the house of My God and they shall go out no more. What is He talking about? A pillar was used to strengthen a building. The roof was set upon the pillar. It was a symbol of strength and security. Also, pillars were often erected by ancient cities to honor famous people. Kings, dignitaries. They would build this pillar, they would write the name of the city, they would write the name of the dignitary, as if to say, we acknowledge you and we honor you.

Then Jesus said they shall go out no more. Remember Philadelphia was the city of earthquakes? And every time an earthquake happened, they would go out of the city. They were so insecure, they were wondering, when's the next big one gonna hit? And so Jesus is saying, I will strengthen you, I will honor you, and I will be your security. You won't have to go out anymore. And I, the God who is true, will honor you by erecting a pillar in your name. Isn't that a beautiful promise? I will strengthen you.

Sometimes people will hear a message that I preach or attend a meeting and they will say something like, you speak with confidence and authority. And I have to remind them, you don't know, you don't see the insecurities behind it all. I am a weak man. And if there's anything strength or authority at all it's because, as a weak person hopefully reviving, there's great strength in Jesus Christ. And He is able to take those who say I'm so weak and those who are faint and make them a pillar. He's able to do that with you. He's able to give you confidence and have you walk in strength as well. So that's the church at Philadelphia. Perfect church? Nope. But prominent church? You bet. An awesome church? Great place to fellowship. Filled with weak people but they had the promise of the strength of God and they walked through doors of opportunity. That's what I want to leave you with today. That you start looking around for doors. There are doors all around you that God has opened. Doors in the community, doors in your fellowship.

I want to conclude by reading a couple paragraphs written by a pastor a few years back. He said, 'I was in the supermarket one day and a lady came down the aisle that I could barely see over the top of her groceries. I got somewhat frightened because she seemed to be headed straight at me. She screeched to a halt within a few feet of me, peered over her load, wagged her finger at me and said, 'I left your church. I left your church.' So I said, 'Well, if it's my church I think it was a very wise decision. If it's my church, I think I'm going to leave, too.' She said, 'Don't you want to know why I left?' I said, 'No not particularly, but I think I'm going to find out.' And I was right. She said, 'You weren't meeting my needs.' I answered, 'I don't ever recollect seeing you before let alone talking to you let alone even knowing your needs. Did you ever tell anyone specifically what your needs were?' She couldn't recall that she had so I raised another question. 'Could you please tell me if we have 5,000 people sitting in that church all with your attitude, how are needs ever going to be met? If you reserve the right to have that attitude, then you must give everybody the freedom to have that attitude. And if everybody had that attitude, who on earth is going to do all the need-meeting?' Standing her ground, she demanded, 'Then you tell me who will.' Relieved I said, 'I thought you'd never ask. This is what will work. When people stop sitting in the pew and saying they're not meeting my needs and start saying, whose needs can I meet? Then needs will be met and when the servant's spirit flourishes in a congregation then they minister to each other as unto the Lord.'

The church of Philadelphia walked through all of the doors of opportunity to bless others. Let's do that.

Additional Messages in this Series

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6/9/1996
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Good News from a Bad Place
Revelation 1:1-8
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6/16/1996
completed
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Catapulted into the Future
Revelation 1:9-20
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6/23/1996
completed
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When Love Grows Cold
Revelation 2:1-7
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6/30/1996
completed
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Postcard to Those in Pain
Revelation 2:8-11
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7/7/1996
completed
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The Curse of Compromise
Revelation 2:12-17
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7/14/1996
completed
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Corruption without Discernment
Revelation 2:18-29
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7/21/1996
completed
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Church of the Living Dead
Revelation 3:1-6
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8/19/1996
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Taking Your Spiritual Temperature
Revelation 3:14-22
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Ever since we were kids our moms stuck thermometers in our mouths whenever she suspected that we were sick. If our body temperature of 98.6 had climbed up just a few notches, it was always a good indication that an unhealthy condition was present. There is also a spiritual temperature that reveals the condition of our souls, and when the thermometer reads Lukewarm it indicates that something is wrong; it indicates the presence of danger. Let's see how Jesus, the Great Physician, treats his patient with this malady.
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8/25/1996
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Peeking into the Portals of Heaven
Revelation 4
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9/1/1996
completed
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History's Greatest Real Estate Deal
Revelation 5:1-7
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9/8/1996
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Worship His Majesty - Part 1
Revelation 5:8-10
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In heaven there won’t be just three services in the morning and one at night with a midweek tacked on. There will be no need to be sensitive to time so we can go to lunch. Words will not have to be printed nor projected. Worship leaders will have no need prompting people to sing. It will be an all-consuming experience that will involve our total cooperation and enthusiasm.
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9/15/1996
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Worship His Majesty - Part 2
Revelation 5:11-14
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9/29/1996
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Four Riders with Bad News
Revelation 6:1-8
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10/6/1996
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The Cries of Heaven and Earth
Revelation 6:9-17
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10/13/1996
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A Blessed Interruption in a Tough Time
Revelation 7
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10/20/1996
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Trumpets of Doom
Revelation 8
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10/27/1996
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When All Hell Breaks Loose
Revelation 9:1-12
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11/3/1996
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Angels of Mass Destruction
Revelation 9:13-21
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11/10/1996
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A Big Angel with a Little Book
Revelation 10
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11/17/1996
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Two Powerful Preachers
Revelation 11:1-14
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11/24/1996
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Light at the End of the Tunnel
Revelation 11:15-19
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12/1/1996
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The Panorama of Spiritual Warfare - Part 1
Revelation 12:1-6
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12/8/1996
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The Panorama of Spiritual Warfare - Part 2
Revelation 12:7-17
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There aren't many people who like to fight. Confrontation is something most would like to avoid. But in the spiritual realm it's unavoidable. The question isn't, "Will I engage in spiritual warfare?" Rather, the question is, "How well will I fight?" As we saw last week, the war in the heavens makes its way to the theater of the earth. Let's see what else it entails.
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12/15/1996
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The Coming Global Leader
Revelation 13:1-10
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12/22/1996
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Evil's Right-Hand-Man
Revelation 13:11-18
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12/29/1996
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The Lamb Who Shepherds His People
Revelation 14:1-5
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After all that john has seen in his apocalyptic vision, seeing the docility of a lamb standing with his overcoming sheep is a welcomed sight. Although the dragon pursues god's people relentlessly, although the beasts are bent on ruling the earth, the ultimate winner will be the lamb and his followers.
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1/5/1997
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Angels Set The Record Straight
Revelation 14:6-13
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1/12/1997
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It's Harvest Time!
Revelation 14:14-20
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One of the most common ways to make a living in ancient times was to "work the land." The early rains of October/November and the soft latter rains produced the wheat and barley harvest later on. Also, when vintage season began, almost the whole village could be found in the fields harvesting the crop. Such images would also provide a poignant way of depicting the final judgment of the earth, as in this section.
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1/17/1997
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Getting Ready for the Grand Finale
Revelation 15:1-8
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1/26/1997
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What's in the Bowl? - Part 1
Revelation 16:1-11
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We now come to the "seven last plagues" of God in the Great Tribulation that is coming upon planet earth. These judgments come in the form of "bowls" being poured out swiftly and completely-the judgment will be swift and thorough. Yet through all the mercy as Well as wrath of this awesome era, people will persist in having a hardened heart. Open your heart 'right now to these truths.
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2/2/1997
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What's in the Bowl? - Part 2
Revelation 16:12-21
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What will the end of the world be like? What are the final events just before Jesus returns and takes over to set up His millennial reign? That's what this section tells us. There will be increased warfare activity in the Middle East, massive deception, and unheard of destructive cataclysms on earth. In the midst of foretelling these events, Jesus has a word of encouragement.
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2/9/1997
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The Coming World Religion
Revelation 17
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It was Karl Marx who stated, no doubt cynically, that religion was the opiate of the masses. The fact is, he was right-it is! People are driven to worship something or someone. This desire will be exploited to the hilt in the Tribulation period and will be under the umbrella of the world dictator-the Antichrist. What are its roots and how does it end?
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2/16/1997
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Get out of Babylon!
Revelation 18
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Someone once said, "Money can't buy you friends but your enemies treat you a little better." Though meant to be tongue-in­cheek, that won't happen when the entire world economy collapses. God's shakedown of the earth will include everything that the Antichrist's kingdom will embody, from the sacred to the secular.
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3/2/1997
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Marriage Made in Heaven
Revelation 19:1-10
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3/9/1997
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The Return of Jesus Christ - Part 1
Revelation 19
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Even in the dome of our capitol in Washington there is an inscription which seems to point to the return of Jesus Christ. It says: "One far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." It is that event which we will be studying in the next two weeks. This is what all Christians of all ages have looked forward to - His return and reign of His creation.
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3/16/1997
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The Return of Jesus Christ - Part 2
Revelation 19
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Even in the dome of the capitol in Washington there is an inscription which seems to point to the return of Jesus Christ. It says: "one far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." it is that event, that Christians of all ages have looked forward to-his return and reign of his creation. We will conclude our study of the return of Jesus Christ, today.
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4/6/1997
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Paradise Regained
Revelation 20:1-3
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4/13/1997
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The Devil's Last Stand
Revelation 20:1-10
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A typical question is, "Will evil ever get its reward?" What ever happened to ethics and justice? Well, we see here that God will not turn His back on this issue. He will deal with the source of all evil (the devil himself) and then judge those who revel in it. This section gives tremendous hope to anyone concerned about injustice in our world.
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4/20/1997
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Life, Death, and Resurrection
Revelation 20:5-6; 20:11-15
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5/4/1997
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All Things New - Part 1
Revelation 21:1-3
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5/11/1997
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All Things New - Part 2
Revelation 21:4-8
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"It's like nothing you've ever seen or experienced before." That's how John describes the emotional experience of heaven. So that we can relate, he tells us that all of the pain, sorrow, and moaning we've endured here won't be there. By the way, only those who want to go there will go there. Heaven is not a destination by default, reservations are made here and now!
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5/18/1997
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The City of the Future
Revelation 21:9-22:5
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There is no architect or builder like God himself. Even the patriarch Abraham "was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Heb. 11:10) he didn't find it in his lifetime. "You won't find you're "happily ever after" here either, but the New Jerusalem will be God's answer for man's longing to live in a perpetually peaceful stare.
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5/25/1997
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He's Coming - Now What!?
Revelation 22:6-21
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There are 43 additional messages in this series.
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