Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / Philadelphia The Faithful Church, Part 2 (Revelation 37–13) John MacArthur

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Philadelphia The Faithful Church, Part 2 (Revelation 37–13) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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  Speaker 1: We return in our study of God's Word to the
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  Speaker 1: book of Revelation tonight and to the message to the
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  Speaker 1: church at Philadelphia, chapter 3, verses 7 through 13, and
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  Speaker 1: this is part two in that study. Now admittedly, there
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  Speaker 1: is no such thing as a perfect church. The church
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  Speaker 1: is not a club for people who have no weaknesses,
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  Speaker 1: not a society for people who have no faults. The
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  Speaker 1: church is really a hospital for those who know they
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  Speaker 1: are sick and needy. No church can be all that
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  Speaker 1: the Lord desires, as no Christian can be perfect. But
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  Speaker 1: as good as churches get, that's how good the church
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  Speaker 1: at Philadelphia was. Here was a church that came as close,
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  Speaker 1: I suppose, as human beings can come to being all
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  Speaker 1: that the Lord would have them be. This was a
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  Speaker 1: faithful church. This was an obedient church. Along with the
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  Speaker 1: church at Smyrna, it's one of the two out of
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  Speaker 1: the seven churches in this section that received no warning,
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  Speaker 1: no threats, no judgments. This is a model then of
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  Speaker 1: a true and loyal church. As we have been noting
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  Speaker 1: all along, each of these letters were written to historical churches,
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  Speaker 1: actual churches in actual cities in Asia Minor. But at
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  Speaker 1: the same time, these churches are examples or models or
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  Speaker 1: symbols of kinds of churches that exist at all times.
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  Speaker 1: In this particular case of the church at Philadelphia, we
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  Speaker 1: have the picture of a faithful church. And what is
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  Speaker 1: said to this church would be true for this very
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  Speaker 1: historic church in the city of Philadelphia and true also
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  Speaker 1: for faithful churches at all times today. in the history
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  Speaker 1: of the church. So here we come to a faithful church, obedient, serving,
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  Speaker 1: worshiping the Lord. First of all, I remind you of
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  Speaker 1: what we looked at last time. The correspondent is identified
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  Speaker 1: in verse 7. to the angel of the church in Philadelphia,
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  Speaker 1: that is to the messenger, the one who will take
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  Speaker 1: the letter to that church, write, and here's the correspondent
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  Speaker 1: or the author identified, he who is holy, who is true,
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  Speaker 1: who has the key of David, who opens and no
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  Speaker 1: one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens
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  Speaker 1: says this. We noted last time that he who is
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  Speaker 1: holy is an Old Testament name for God. It is
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  Speaker 1: a New Testament title for the Messiah. This comes then
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  Speaker 1: from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who is none
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  Speaker 1: other than God. Secondly, it identifies the Lord as the
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  Speaker 1: one who is true. Truth is also an attribute of
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  Speaker 1: God and therefore as well of Christ. Numerous times in
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  Speaker 1: the Scripture, God is identified as one who is holy
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  Speaker 1: and true, and so is Christ. So the holy and
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  Speaker 1: true Lord who has the highest righteous standard and puts
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  Speaker 1: the supreme value on truth writes to this church. He
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  Speaker 1: also describes Himself as the one who has the key
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  Speaker 1: of David. That is an emblem of messianic authority, of sovereignty,
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  Speaker 1: of ultimate control. Whoever has the key can open or shut.
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  Speaker 1: He's in charge. And here we have the key to
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  Speaker 1: open the door of salvation or entrance to the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Here we have the key to open the treasure house
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  Speaker 1: of blessing for believers. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
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  Speaker 1: one who has the key. He alone is the one
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  Speaker 1: who can open the way to salvation and open the
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  Speaker 1: treasure house of blessing. And then we note also that
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  Speaker 1: this one who has the key opens and no one
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  Speaker 1: will shut and shuts and no one opens. That is
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  Speaker 1: to say, He is omnipotent. What He does cannot be undone.
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  Speaker 1: He alone opens the door to salvation and no one
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  Speaker 1: can shut it. He opens the door to the storehouse
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  Speaker 1: of blessing and no one can shut it. He opens
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  Speaker 1: the door to evangelistic opportunity and no one can shut it.
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  Speaker 1: He has invincible power. So the writer then, our Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, identifies Himself as God, holy and true, sovereign
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  Speaker 1: and powerful, invincible. Now that alone might have caused the
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  Speaker 1: Philadelphians who read this letter to assume they were going
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  Speaker 1: to get a strong rebuke. God being holy does not
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  Speaker 1: tolerate sin. God being true does not tolerate error. God
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  Speaker 1: having the key, as it were, in Christ to open
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom and open the blessings would be the one
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  Speaker 1: who would decide whether this church was to be blessed.
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  Speaker 1: We would not be surprised then that they would have
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  Speaker 1: expected perhaps a rebuke for some sin or some failure
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  Speaker 1: from such a formidable author, but that doesn't happen. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord Himself looks and sees nothing lacking. The key opened salvation,
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  Speaker 1: the key opened blessing, the key opened tremendous evangelistic opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord saw nothing to rebuke. The second thing we
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  Speaker 1: noted was the city. Philadelphia, a city in Asia Minor,
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  Speaker 1: about 30 miles southeast of Sardis. And I remind you
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  Speaker 1: that seven men left John with the book of Revelation
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  Speaker 1: and the letters to the seven churches, and each one
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  Speaker 1: dropped off at his own church as they moved through
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  Speaker 1: Asia Minor. The church, we don't know anything about its founding.
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  Speaker 1: All we know is what's in this letter. And then
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  Speaker 1: we come to the point, the condemnation, but there isn't any.
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  Speaker 1: And so we turn immediately to the commendation. We start
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  Speaker 1: there in verse 8. And here the commendation is given.
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  Speaker 1: He says, I know your deeds, or I know your works.
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  Speaker 1: And that's a very simple statement to make, but it
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  Speaker 1: expresses the omniscience of Christ. I know you. Nothing escapes me.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing is hidden to me. Nothing goes unseen. I know
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  Speaker 1: your works. The holy, true, sovereign, powerful Lord knows everything
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  Speaker 1: there is to know. And what did he see? Four things.
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  Speaker 1: Remember them? First of all, he saw they had power.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 8, behold, I have put before you an open
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  Speaker 1: door and he follows that through. You haven't denied my name.
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  Speaker 1: You've kept my word. But in the middle, you have
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  Speaker 1: a little power. They had power. That's spiritual power. It
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  Speaker 1: was only little because they were a small church. Secondly,
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  Speaker 1: he notes their obedience. You have kept my word. And
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  Speaker 1: then He notes their loyalty, you have not denied My name.
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  Speaker 1: And then He notes their endurance, verse 10, you have
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  Speaker 1: kept the word of My perseverance. Literally, you have kept
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  Speaker 1: My command to endure patiently. So here was a church
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  Speaker 1: with power, obedience, loyalty, and endurance, commendable indeed. Now because
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  Speaker 1: of such quality, our Lord gave them some privileges. First
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  Speaker 1: of all, he says, verse 8, I have put before
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  Speaker 1: you an open door which no one can shut. We
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  Speaker 1: already noted that this open door would be the promise
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  Speaker 1: of kingdom admission. That is, I have opened the door
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  Speaker 1: to the kingdom to let you in and no one
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  Speaker 1: can keep you out. This would deal with the spiritual
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  Speaker 1: kingdom and someday with the earthly kingdom to come. So
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  Speaker 1: here was a promise of security. assurance. Then obviously He
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  Speaker 1: had opened the door of blessing to them. That blessing
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  Speaker 1: had come flowing down to them. No one could close
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  Speaker 1: that door either because they were faithful and worthy of
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  Speaker 1: kingdom blessing. And then we would also note that He
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  Speaker 1: had opened the door of evangelistic opportunity. He describes that
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  Speaker 1: in verse 9 when He says that Jews who are
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  Speaker 1: your enemy will come and bow down at your feet
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  Speaker 1: and know that I have loved you. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: you'll have an open door of evangelistic opportunity in your
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  Speaker 1: city even to reach the synagogue of Satan occupied by
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  Speaker 1: Jews hostile to the gospel. The door of salvation had
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  Speaker 1: been opened, the door of blessing and the door of
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  Speaker 1: evangelistic opportunity. We noted that In this city of Philadelphia,
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  Speaker 1: those Jews who persecuted them came and bowed down and
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  Speaker 1: acknowledged the love of God for Gentiles. This also looks
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  Speaker 1: further into the future and sees that every faithful church
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  Speaker 1: will enjoy such an open door. Every faithful church will
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  Speaker 1: find the kingdom door open, will find kingdom blessings available,
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  Speaker 1: and will find evangelistic opportunity given to them, particularly with
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  Speaker 1: reference to the salvation of Jews. So here is a
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  Speaker 1: model of a faithful church. The kingdom door is wide
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  Speaker 1: open and many are coming to Christ. The door of
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  Speaker 1: the treasure house of God's blessings is wide open and
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  Speaker 1: being poured out on them. And a door of evangelistic
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  Speaker 1: opportunity is open and they are going through it and
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  Speaker 1: God is even saving hostile Jews. That has happened, as
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  Speaker 1: I noted, throughout the history of the church. Faithful, loyal, obedient,
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  Speaker 1: powerful churches have been blessed by being the place where
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  Speaker 1: many enter the kingdom, by being blessed with all spiritual blessings,
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  Speaker 1: and by being given great evangelistic opportunity, often embracing the
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  Speaker 1: salvation of Jews. And someday the church will finally provoke
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  Speaker 1: Israel to salvation. on a national scale. Eventually, He says,
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  Speaker 1: the people who are against you, at the end of
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  Speaker 1: verse 9, will come to know I have loved you.
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  Speaker 1: That's hard for Jews to accept that God had a
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  Speaker 1: special covenant love with Gentiles. Jonah had a hard time
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  Speaker 1: dealing with it. But God has loved His church, has
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  Speaker 1: loved the Gentiles, and used the Gentile church to provoke
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  Speaker 1: Israel to jealousy. Now we all looked at that last time.
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  Speaker 1: There is one more promise to this commended church that
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  Speaker 1: we didn't look at and it is significant. Verse 10,
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  Speaker 1: you are a powerful and obedient church, a loyal and patient,
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  Speaker 1: enduring church. And because you have kept the word of
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  Speaker 1: My perseverance or you have obeyed My command to patiently endure,
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  Speaker 1: Because you have endured with blazing hope persecution and hostility.
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  Speaker 1: Because you have taken your suffering and not wavered. And
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of suffering, back to verse 8, you
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  Speaker 1: have kept My Word and have not denied My power
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  Speaker 1: or My name. Because of that, here's this promise. I
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  Speaker 1: also will keep you from the hour of testing, that
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  Speaker 1: hour which is about to come upon the whole world
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  Speaker 1: to test those who dwell upon the earth. What a promise.
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  Speaker 1: You have successfully passed all the tests, tests to try
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  Speaker 1: your faith. Persecution, animosity, hostility, and your faith is found genuine.
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  Speaker 1: You have maintained your power. You have maintained your obedience.
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  Speaker 1: You have maintained your loyalty. And you have endured it all.
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  Speaker 1: And because you have passed so many tests, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to spare you the future test. That's what he's saying.
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  Speaker 1: Could have been some simple historical reference to sparing the
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  Speaker 1: church in Philadelphia from some trouble. When another wave of
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  Speaker 1: persecution came in the future, or some trouble when the
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  Speaker 1: nearest volcano blew and the earthquake rattled their city to
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  Speaker 1: the ground, it could have had some brief historical sense.
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  Speaker 1: But whatever brief historical sense that promise had gets swallowed
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  Speaker 1: up in the vastness of the promise. We could never
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  Speaker 1: limit it. to a historical event that occurred in the
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  Speaker 1: little city of Philadelphia. It has to be looking far
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  Speaker 1: into the future at Philadelphia-like faithful churches and telling those true, loyal, powerful,
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  Speaker 1: obedient churches that they will escape a final hour of testing.
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  Speaker 1: It kind of goes like this. When you were a student,
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  Speaker 1: if you were a good student in your senior year,
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  Speaker 1: at least this is the way I was treated as
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  Speaker 1: a student, you came to the finals and the teacher
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  Speaker 1: let you miss the final. I remember in my senior
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  Speaker 1: year in college having that privilege because I had dutifully
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  Speaker 1: passed my courses with decent grades. By the time it
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  Speaker 1: came to finals, I didn't have to take my finals
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  Speaker 1: because the teacher said, you've done well enough on your
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  Speaker 1: other tests, I'll let you skip the final. I got
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  Speaker 1: into seminary, the same thing happened to me the last
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  Speaker 1: year of my seminary. I didn't have to take the
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  Speaker 1: finals because I had passed all the previous tests. There
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  Speaker 1: was nothing left to prove, and so I didn't need
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  Speaker 1: to take the final. And I believe this is what
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is saying to His beloved church, when you
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  Speaker 1: have gone through all of the tests, when you've gone
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  Speaker 1: through the daily quizzes and the routine monthly tests and
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  Speaker 1: you've gone through the midterm and you've passed everything, I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to let you skip the final. There's coming a
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  Speaker 1: test at the very end, an eschatological test. You're not
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  Speaker 1: going to have to take it. Nothing left to prove.
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  Speaker 1: Overcomers are going to miss the final test because they've
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  Speaker 1: passed all the others. Now what is this promise really about?
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  Speaker 1: Let me read it to you again. I will keep
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  Speaker 1: you from the hour of testing, that hour which is
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  Speaker 1: about to come upon the whole world to test those
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  Speaker 1: who dwell upon the earth. Now there's some components there
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  Speaker 1: that you need to grasp. First of all, whatever the
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  Speaker 1: test is, it's future. I also will keep you. This
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  Speaker 1: is a future test. The second thing you need to
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  Speaker 1: know is that it is a limited test. I will
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  Speaker 1: keep you from the hour of testing, which indicates that
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  Speaker 1: it has a controlled duration. It's not eternal or permanent.
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  Speaker 1: Another thing we learn about it is it's called an
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  Speaker 1: hour of testing. It is something future. It is something limited.
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  Speaker 1: It is something that exposes. It is a test. That's
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  Speaker 1: what a test does. A test exposes you. It reveals
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  Speaker 1: what you know. It reveals your character. It is a parosmos,
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  Speaker 1: the word used in the Bible for trial. puts you
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  Speaker 1: on trial to see what you're made of. The word
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  Speaker 1: used in the Bible for temptation, it puts you under
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  Speaker 1: a severe test to see what you're going to do.
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  Speaker 1: It exposes you for what you are. So this coming
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  Speaker 1: event is something future, something limited in time, something that exposes,
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  Speaker 1: and it is something worldwide. It's about to come upon
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  Speaker 1: not just your city or your province, but the whole world.
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  Speaker 1: Now there it takes us beyond Philadelphia. It's something worldwide.
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  Speaker 1: And then it's something inclusive. Not just the world, but
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  Speaker 1: the whole world. It's going to get everybody. And then
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  Speaker 1: a last and very important note. It is something for unbelievers.
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  Speaker 1: It is to test those who dwell upon the earth.
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  Speaker 1: You say, well now, does that refer to unbelievers? Let
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  Speaker 1: me show you something. Turn to chapter 6 verse 10.
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  Speaker 1: Here you have the saints who have been martyred for
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  Speaker 1: the cause of Christ. They are under the altar, and
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  Speaker 1: they are crying out with a loud voice. Verse 10,
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  Speaker 1: That can only refer to unbelievers, right? Those who killed Christians.
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  Speaker 1: Look at chapter 8, verse 13. And I looked and
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  Speaker 1: I heard an eagle flying in mid heaven saying with
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  Speaker 1: a loud voice, woe, woe, woe. And that doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: hold up, stop. That means curse, curse, curse. Who? To
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  Speaker 1: those who dwell on the earth. Again, it has to
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  Speaker 1: refer to unbelievers. Chapter 11 verse 10. Here you have
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  Speaker 1: the two witnesses, two witnesses preaching the truth of God.
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  Speaker 1: They are murdered for preaching during the time of testing.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 8, their dead bodies lie in the street. Verse 10,
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  Speaker 1: And those, here's the same phrase, who dwell on the
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  Speaker 1: earth will rejoice over them and make merry and send
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  Speaker 1: gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those
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  Speaker 1: who dwell on the earth. That, again, twice used in
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  Speaker 1: that verse to refer to people who were tormented by
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  Speaker 1: the preaching of the gospel to the degree that they
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  Speaker 1: celebrated and had a party when they were killed and
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  Speaker 1: it became such a massive celebration they actually started giving
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  Speaker 1: presents to each other. Turn to chapter 13. Here we
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  Speaker 1: have the reign of Antichrist. And in chapter 13, verse 8,
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  Speaker 1: it says, all, here's the same phrase, who dwell on
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  Speaker 1: the earth will worship Him. Down in verse 12, He
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  Speaker 1: exercises all the authority of the first beast, here referring
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  Speaker 1: to the false prophet, first beast being the Antichrist. And
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  Speaker 1: He makes the earth and those who dwell in it,
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  Speaker 1: same people, same phrase, to worship the first beast who
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  Speaker 1: is the Antichrist. Down in verse 14, And He deceives,
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  Speaker 1: same phrase, those who dwell on the earth. The Antichrist deceives,
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  Speaker 1: of course, the ungodly. In chapter 14, just briefly, verse 6,
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  Speaker 1: And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an
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  Speaker 1: eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth.
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  Speaker 1: Now do you get the feeling here that this is
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  Speaker 1: a technical term for the unbelievers? It is. Chapter 17,
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  Speaker 1: verse 2, The great harlot, the false religious system with
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  Speaker 1: whom the kings of the earth, Revelation 17, 2 says,
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  Speaker 1: committed acts of immorality and those who dwell on the
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  Speaker 1: earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.
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  Speaker 1: Here is the world engulfed in this false religion. And
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  Speaker 1: then down in verse 8. The beast that you saw
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  Speaker 1: was and is not and is about to come out
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  Speaker 1: of the abyss and to go to destruction and those
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  Speaker 1: who dwell on the earth will wonder whose name has
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  Speaker 1: not been written in the book of life. Those who
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  Speaker 1: dwell on the earth becomes a technical term for people
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  Speaker 1: whose names are not written in the book of life.
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  Speaker 1: That is for the ungodly and the unregenerate, the objects
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  Speaker 1: of God's wrath because of rejection and rebellion against Him.
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  Speaker 1: Now go back to chapter 3 and you will understand
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  Speaker 1: who he is talking about when he says, this hour
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  Speaker 1: of testing... This hour which is about to come upon
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  Speaker 1: the wide world, including everybody, for the purpose of testing
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  Speaker 1: those who dwell upon the earth. Let me tell you, folks,
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  Speaker 1: it is not to test believers. We skip the final.
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  Speaker 1: It cannot be a present time of distress. It cannot
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  Speaker 1: be a permanent kind of testing. It cannot be a
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  Speaker 1: local kind of testing. It cannot be a partial kind
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  Speaker 1: of testing. And it cannot be a time of testing
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  Speaker 1: designed for the church. Our Lord is saying to the
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  Speaker 1: true church, I'll keep you out of the future time
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  Speaker 1: of testing coming on the earth to test the unbelievers.
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  Speaker 1: The church is under trial now and the true saints
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  Speaker 1: will pass. As Matthew 24, 13 says it in the
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  Speaker 1: words of Jesus, he that endures to the end will
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  Speaker 1: be delivered. If you endure to the end, you'll be
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  Speaker 1: delivered from the final because you passed the other tests.
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  Speaker 1: Now let's go back to this verse and look a
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  Speaker 1: little more closely at what we've just seen. I also
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  Speaker 1: will keep you from the hour of testing. This is
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  Speaker 1: a time of severe testing that comes on the wicked.
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  Speaker 1: What happens? What happens when that comes on the wicked?
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  Speaker 1: Two things. Some repent and are saved, right? Some repent
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  Speaker 1: and are saved. Go back to chapter 6, verse 9.
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  Speaker 1: Here are the souls of those who had been slain
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  Speaker 1: because of the word of God, because of the testimony
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  Speaker 1: which they had maintained. They cry with a loud voice,
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  Speaker 1: How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain
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  Speaker 1: from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell
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  Speaker 1: on the earth? And there was given to each of
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  Speaker 1: them a white robe, and they were told that they
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: should rest for a little while longer until the number
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: be killed, even as they had been, should be completed also.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: So here are some people who during that time of
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: testing will believe and will be martyred. Some are going
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: to pass the test. They're going to be repentant and
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: they're going to be saved. Look at chapter 7, verse 9.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: As John looks into the vision, he says, and these
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: things were what I saw. Behold, a great multitude, which
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: no one could count, from every nation and all tribes
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: in their hands. And they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: and they fell on their faces before the throne and
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: worshiped God. There along with the angels and the elders
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: is a multitude of people who have been saved. When
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: were they saved? Look at verse 14,' And I said,
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: My Lord, You know?' And He said to me, These
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: are the ones who came out of the great tribulation.'
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: That's another term for the time of testing. At least
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: the great expression of fury and tribulation that comes in
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the latter half of that seven-year period. They came out
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: of that time. They washed their robes. They made them
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: white in the blood of the Lamb. So we know
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: that when the test hits, some are going to be redeemed.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: Some will repent and believe. Chapter 13 identifies them again.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: If anyone is destined for captivity, verse 10, to captivity
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: he goes. If anyone kills with the sword, with the
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: the faith of the saints. Again, during this time of
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Antichrist's reign of terror, some saints will believe and persevere.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: We find the same thing again in chapter 14. Verse 4,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: these are the ones who have not been defiled with women,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: for they've kept themselves chased. These are the ones who
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: Down in verse 12 again, the perseverance of the saints
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: so some will follow. believe. Chapter 17 verse 14 identifies
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: them again. Talks about the Antichrist and his allies waging
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: war against the Lamb. The Lamb overcomes them because He
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: is Lord of lords and King of kings and those
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: So when the test comes, Some will repent and be saved.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: The gospel during that hour of testing will be preached
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: by those two witnesses. It will be preached by 144,000 Jews.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: It will be preached by a flying angel in midheaven.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: And some will repent and believe and pass the test.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Others will reject and be damned Go back again to
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Revelation 6 and see this group. Revelation 6, 15, and
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: the kings of the earth and the great men and
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: the commanders and the rich and the strong and every
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: slave and free man. hid themselves in the caves and
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: hide us from the presence of Him who sits on
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: the great day of their wrath has come, and who
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: is able to stand? Here are the rejecters, here are
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: the rebellious, and they're trying to hide. Chapter 9, verse 20.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: The rest of mankind who were not killed by these
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: plagues did not repent of the works of their hands
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: so as not to worship demons and the idols of
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: gold and of silver and of brass and of stone
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: And they did not repent of their murders nor of
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Chapter 13, verse 7. It says that Antichrist, in the
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: middle of the verse, has authority over every tribe and
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: people and tongue and nation. And all who dwell on
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: the earth will worship Him. Chapter 16 tells us again
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: of those who do not believe. Verse 11, they blasphemed
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: the God of heaven because of their pains and their
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: sores and they did not repent of their deeds. Verse 19, again,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Babylon the great was remembered before God to give her
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. All
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: the way down to the end, God pours out His
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: fury on these people who will not believe. Every island
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: flies away. Every mountain is crushed, huge hundred-pound hailstones falling
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: on those who reject. You have it in chapter 19
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: in absolutely graphic terms. The Lord comes with a bloody
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: robe and and he comes in devastation. Verse 17, even
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: the birds are assembled to eat the flesh of kings
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: the flesh of horses and those who sit on them,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: the flesh of all men, free men, slaves, small, great.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: Now then we see what happens in the test. Judgment
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: is poured out in the world. First there is holocaust
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: after holocaust after holocaust. Then the Antichrist rises in his
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: blasphemous attack on God, wreaks His havoc. Then God Himself
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: moves in in the fury of His own judgments. Through
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: it all. The gospel is preached and proclaimed, and the
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: test is on, and some believe and some reject, and
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: some are saved and some are damned. But to the
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: faithful church, Jesus says, you won't be there. You already
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: went through your tests. You don't have to take the
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: final test. And then he adds an interesting note. He says,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: I also will keep you from the hour of testing,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: that hour which is about to come. It's something near.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: It's something that is expected. It's something that is anticipated.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: You get the feeling that it's something that could come
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: at any moment. There's a certain imminency about it. It
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: gets nearer every day. It could happen at any moment.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Christians have always lived in anticipation of that reality. Romans
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: 13 reminds us of the imminency of the day of testing,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: the hour of testing. Paul says, For now salvation is
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: nearer to us than when we believed. The night is
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: almost gone. The day is at hand. It's near. Peter
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: said it, 1 Peter chapter 4, the end of all
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: things is at hand. It's near. Paul said it, 1
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter 7, verse 29, I say this, brethren, the
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: time has been shortened. James said it, chapter 5 and
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: verse 8, in no uncertain terms, the coming of the
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Lord is at hand. So there's coming an hour of testing.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: It's near. It's for the ungodly, including Israel. Daniel calls
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: it the 70th week. that one seven-year period still left
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: in which Israel will believe and be saved. It is
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: a time when Malachi says, God will restore the hearts
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: of the fathers to their children and the hearts of
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: the children to their fathers. before the coming terrible day
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. This is the hour of testing for
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: those unsaved in Israel and those unsaved in the Gentile nations.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: But to the faithful church, I will keep you from
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: the hour of testing. You've been faithful. I'm not going
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: to put you through that. Listen to it. Think of
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: it this way. You have been faithful to endure through
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: all your trials. I will not put you in a
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: trial that would kill you. That wouldn't be a reward
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: for your faithfulness. Some people who would like to have
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: the church going through the hour of testing... say that
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: this verse can mean this, I will also keep you
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: within the hour of testing. The verb tereo, which means
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: to keep or guard, is followed by a little preposition ek.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: Ek means out of. But some people would like to
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: make it mean in. There is a word for in, en.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: There is a word for through, dia. Our Lord didn't
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: use en. He didn't say, I'll keep you in it.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: He didn't use dia, I'll keep you through it. He
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: used ek, I'll keep you out of it. Some say
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: the Lord is saying, I will preserve you through it. Well,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: first of all, I have a question to ask. What
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: kind of preservation are you talking about? Since the saints
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: get killed by the Antichrist. What do you mean? I
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: will also keep you through the hour of testing. In
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: what sense? Since the first group of saints we meet
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: in chapter 6 are already dead. and they're under the
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: altar having been martyred, asking how long until God avenges
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: their martyrdom. And then how about those in chapter 7
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: but also came out of the great tribulation and are
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: now in heaven? What happened to them? And the other
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: references I read to you in the book of Revelation
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: that says the saints are going to be killed by
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: the Antichrist. That doesn't sound to me like a very
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: meaningful promise if the Lord says, I will keep you during, through,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: or in the hour of testing. In fact, I'm going
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: to keep you so well, the only thing that will
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: happen to you is you're going to be killed. What? What?
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: That kind of keeping I can do without. And somebody
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: will answer, no, no, no. What he means is, I'll
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: keep you saved. What? Do they need to be told that?
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: I'll keep you saved? Salvation is eternal. We know that.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: Somebody else says, no, I'll keep you from divine wrath. Oh,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: did we ever think we were going to get divine
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: wrath since Romans 8, 1 says, there is therefore now
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: no condemnation? And since 1 Thessalonians 1, 10 and 5,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: 9 says we will be saved from the wrath to come?
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: It wouldn't make this any kind of a special promise.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Obviously all Christians are delivered from the wrath to come,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: the wrath of God. So in what sense would we
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: be kept through this thing? We're kept during it. That
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: sounds more like a threat if we're all going to
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: die than a promise. And compare it with chapter 2,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: verse 19, the letter to Thyatira. He says, I know
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: about you. And verse 20, he says, I have this
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: against you. You tolerate the woman Jezebel who calls herself
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: a prophetess and teaches and leads my bondservants astray so
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: to idols. And I gave her time to repent and
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: she doesn't want to repent of her immorality. I'll cast
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: her upon a bed of sickness and those who commit
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: adultery with her into great tribulation. To a sinning, wicked church,
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: He says, I'll put you in great tribulation. To a loyal,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: faithful church, He says, I'll keep you out. The unregenerate
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: church will go into the tribulation. The regenerate church will
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: be kept from it. He wouldn't be saying, you evil
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: folks at Thyatira, I'm going to throw you into the tribulation.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: You good folks at Philadelphia, I'm throwing you into the tribulation.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: in there too. And by the way, you folks in
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Thyatira may die in the tribulation, and by the way,
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: you good folks in Philadelphia may die also. That's a
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: strange scenario. I think what he's saying is your present
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: trouble is enough and you don't have to take the final.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: The hour of testing is a time period. It's a
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: period of time. It has limits. It's the same kind
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: of phrase used in John 12, 27. By our Lord.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Let me just read it to you. John 12, 27.
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: Jesus says, Now my soul has become troubled. And what
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: shall I say? Father, save me from this, what? Hour.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Jesus said,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: save me. Ech. Ech. out from this hour. Prevent me
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: from it. In that other passage written by John, Christ
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: prayed to be saved from the hour of crucifixion. He
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: obviously meant, humanly speaking, I don't want to have to
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: go through it. He wasn't praying, let me go through
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: it but hang on to me. He knew God would
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: do that. He wanted to be spared the necessity of
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: even experiencing it. It's the same kind of use of
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: the word ek by the same writer, John. He wasn't
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: praying for strength to go through it. He was praying
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: to get exempted from it. Don't let me go through
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: that hour. Save me out of it. From it being
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: the proper translation. The little phrase, keep from, tereoek, means exemption.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: If He wanted to keep them through it, He could
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: have said that. Eis, dia, in, would have said that.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: But the basic idea of ek is to prevent, to
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: keep from, to take out. The contrary, tereo en, is
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: used four times in the New Testament. Acts 12.5, 25.4,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: 1 Peter 1.4, Jude 21. It always implies previous existence within,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: with a view to continuing in. Tereo ek would be
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: the opposite. It would mean continuous existence outside. En and
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: ek can't mean the same thing. One means in, the
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: other one means out. Now there's only one other use
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: of tereoek as a phrase, and that's in John 17.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: It's worth looking at. In John 17, 15, Jesus said
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: to the Father, I do not ask thee to take
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: them out of the world, but to keep them from
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: the evil one. To keep them from Literally, from or
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: outside the power of the evil one. That's the same
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: phrase there. To keep them from the evil one. And
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the translators of the NAS have translated it accurately. To
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: keep them outside the power of the evil one. Listen,
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: He's not saying, they're My children, I just want you
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: to hang on to them while they're under the complete
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: power of Satan. No. No. No. Colossians 1.13 says, when
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: you were saved, you were transferred out of the kingdom
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, right?
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: We're no longer under the sovereign control of Satan. In
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Acts 26.18, we have moved from the dominion of Satan
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: to God. So He's not saying, Father, protect them while
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: they're in the dominion of Satan. He's saying keep them
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: from the dominion of Satan or the power of evil
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: or the evil one. First John 5 19 I think
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: needs to be noted. We know that we are of
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: God and the whole world lies in the power of
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: the evil one. It is the unregenerate world that lies
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: in the power of the evil one, not believers. So
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: he's not saying here, oh yes, they do lie in
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: the power of the evil one, but hold on to
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: them while they're there. Keep them from it. And we
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: believe that God answered the prayer of Christ in the
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: saving work which He accomplished on the cross, which provides
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: for us escape from the dominion of darkness, the rule
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: of Satan. So clearly when you look at the logic
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: of the passage in Revelation and you look at the
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: linguistics of the passage, you are led to conclude that
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: When He says, I will keep you from the hour
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: of testing, that is the purest and truest translation, and
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: it is the only thing that makes sense by way
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: of a promise. The only other time the phrase is used,
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: it has to mean the same thing in John 17
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: verse 15. Then the Lord adds this, verse 11, I
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: am coming quickly. You say, it doesn't seem too quick
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: to me. It's been a long time. That's your side.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: From God's perspective, it's soon. That's what that means. It's soon.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: There are a number of such statements already in these letters.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: Chapter 2, verse 5. Chapter 2, verse 16. Chapter 3,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: verse 3. Those probably were warnings of a temporal judgment.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: The Lord was saying, I'm coming, I'm coming, and He
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: meant to you in that historical context to act, and
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: He did. He did. Kind of like when He came
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: into the church at Jerusalem and killed Ananias and Sapphira.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: Kind of like when He came into the church at
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: Corinth and brought disease and death to Christians who desecrated
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: the Lord's table. But all those historic comings when He
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: came in judgment, even in His own church, were previews
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: of the final coming in which false believers and unsaved
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: people in the church will be judged and tested. So
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: the Lord says it's going to be soon. From our perspective,
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: it doesn't seem soon, but a thousand years is like
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: a day to the Lord, so it's soon to Him.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: Our Lord says, I'm coming. which means this whole thing
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: is going to happen. It's going to happen soon. How
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: do Christians react? Revelation 22, John says it for us
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: in verse 7. Jesus said, behold, I am coming quickly.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Verse 20, yes, I'm coming quickly. What did John say? Amen. Come,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus. He's coming. He's coming for His church. He's
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: coming to take us out of the hour of testing.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: Now when He says, I'm coming quickly here, He can't
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: mean the coming described in Revelation 19 when He comes
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: in bloody garments with a sword to slaughter the world.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: He's coming to bring the testing time. He's coming to
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: do what it's describing in chapter 6 through 18. And
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: to the church, this statement, I'm coming, is not a threat.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: That's why John says, come, come, come, because it's the
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: coming to deliver the church. It's what we studied in
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: 2 Thessalonians 2.1. It's the coming of our Lord Jesus
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: and our gathering together to Him. This isn't a threat.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: This is a hopeful event. So there are some wondrous
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: promises given to this church and to all faithful churches.
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: You will have the kingdom open to you. You will
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: have the blessings of the kingdom open to you. You
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: will have evangelistic opportunity and you are promised deliverance from
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: the final hour of testing so that you can live
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: in the hope of the coming of Jesus Christ and
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: fear nothing because when He comes to initiate the hour
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: of testing, it won't come to you. And so you
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: can say with John, even so come Lord Jesus, come
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: and gather us to yourself. And then sixthly in our
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: little outline, the command is given in verse 11, the command,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: hold fast what you have in order that no one
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: take your crown. Now we're getting practical. The practical implications
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: of the Lord soon coming to rescue His church and
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: initiate the testing. He's going to come, rescue the church,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: gather us with Him, start the testing, and He just says,
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: hold fast what you have. What's He mean? Remain true,
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  Speaker 1: remain faithful, remain holy. Same thing He said back in
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: chapter 2, verse 25, what you have, hold fast till
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  Speaker 1: I come. Hold on to it. Be faithful. Persevere. Endure.
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  Speaker 1: This is the perseverance of the saints. Let me tell
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  Speaker 1: you something. Only saints who are faithful to the end
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  Speaker 1: are saved. Is that not true? That's the perseverance of
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: the saints. You say, now, wait a minute. I thought
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: we were secured by God. I thought we were secured
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: by the eternal power of God who secures us. That's true.
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  Speaker 1: But do you know how He secures us? He secures
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  Speaker 1: us by giving us a persevering faith. That's how He
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: secures us. He doesn't secure us by some divine statement
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  Speaker 1: that is unrelated to us. The security that we possess
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  Speaker 1: is granted to us in an undying faith. That's why
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  Speaker 1: 1 John 2, 19 says, they went out from us
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: because they were not of us. If they had been
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: of us, they would have remained with us. They would
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  Speaker 1: have taken the persecution. They would have endured the difficulty
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: because true Christians are granted by God eternal security through
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: the maintenance of a persevering faith that never dies. So
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: he says, persevere. You say, well, do we have a part? Sure.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: We're saved by God's power and yet our part is
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: to believe. We're kept by God's power, but our part
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: is to continue to believe. And just as God calls
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: us to believe initially to be saved, He calls us
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: to keep on persevering to maintain that salvation. All of
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: it is energized, of course, by the Spirit of God.
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: In Colossians 1, it says it as clearly as it
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: can be said. Verse 22, He's reconciled you in His
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: fleshly body through death in order to present you before
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach, yes, if indeed
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: you continue in the faith. That's it. You say, well,
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: I know somebody believed for a while and they don't
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: believe anymore, not a Christian, never were truly saved. Because
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: whom God saves, He keeps. And no man is able
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: to pluck them out of his hand. And He keeps them,
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: not against their will, but He keeps them by the
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: Spirit of God, empowering their will to a sustained faith.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: So He says, hang on. With a persevering faith. I
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  Speaker 1: love this. In order that no one take your crown.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: What's he talking about? What's your crown? Well, go back
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: to chapter 2, verse 10. End of the verse. Be
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: faithful until death. Same thing. Persevere down to the very
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: end and I'll give you the crown of what? Life.
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: In Greek, that's the crown which is life. The crown
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: is eternal life. the crown which is life. James helps
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  Speaker 1: us to understand this when he says in James 1.12,
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: blessed is a man who perseveres under trial. He doesn't
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  Speaker 1: lose his faith. He will receive the crown of life.
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  Speaker 1: What do you mean? He'll receive the crown of His faith,
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  Speaker 1: which is eternal life. 2 Timothy 4.8 says, He'll receive
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: a crown which is righteousness. What does that mean? That
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: our eternal life is righteous. 1 Peter 5, 4 says
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: He'll receive a crown which is glory, our eternal glory,
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: eternal righteousness, all wrapped up in our eternal life. So
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: He says, look, you're going to miss the final because
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: your faith is real. And I'm going to infuse into
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: you the power of the Spirit of God. And I
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: ask you, to faithfully persevere, hold what you have in
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: order that no one take your crown, your eternal, glorious,
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: righteous life. Beloved, don't you ever think for a moment
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: that there's an imbalance in this issue of eternal security? Yes,
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: you are eternally secure by the power of God. Yes,
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: you must maintain a continual faith. Just as at the
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: moment of your salvation you were saved by the power
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: of God and yet you had to turn from your
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: sin and believe. Remain faithful. Hold fast. And at last then,
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: the counsel. The final words... of encouraging instruction. Verse 12,
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: he who overcomes, who is that? First John 5, 5,
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: he is the one who believes that Jesus is the
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  Speaker 1: Son of God. That's a Christian. To the Christian who
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: proves the genuineness of his Christianity because he holds fast
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: to the end To the Christian, I'll make him a
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: pillar in the temple of my God. And he will
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: not go out from it anymore. And I'll write upon
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: him the name of my God and the name of
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: down out of heaven from my God and my new name.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Here is some wonderful encouragement to the true Christians. Four
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: eternal blessings are yours. You folks that endure to the
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: end and I'm going to catch you away and in
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: the gathering together, you're not going to go through the final.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: I'm going to promise you these four things. One, I'll
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: make you a pillar in the temple of my God
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: and you won't go out of it anymore. In other words,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: I'm going to make you a permanent pillar in the
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: house of God. What's that? Heaven, the glorious dwelling place
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: of God. What do you mean a pillar? A pillar.
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: Several ways to look at it. A pillar would be stability, permanence, immovability, continuance.
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: It also could be honor. A pillar could be carved.
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: in such a way as to represent an individual. And
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: in temples, very often they did that to honor certain deities.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: I'm going to give you an eternal place of honor
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to give you an eternal place of
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: stability and permanence. To folks used to earthquakes because they
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: lived on a fault line, they would understand this. To
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: folks who had experienced buildings coming down around their heads
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: and having to move out, This was a clear word.
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: I'm going to put you in a place that will
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: never be shaken and never move, and you'll never have
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: to leave. An unshakable, permanent, immovable, eternal, stable, secure place. Secondly,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: I will write on Him the name of my God.
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: That just thrills me. Absolutely thrills me. When we used
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: to take our little kids off to church when they
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: were small, we used to write their name on a
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: piece of tape and stick it on them. You ever
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: do that? You know what that meant? He's mine. He
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: belongs to me. And that's why God wants to write
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: His name on us. The persecutors may have thought that
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: they were representing God when they attacked these Christians. Certainly
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: the Jewish persecutors must have thought that. They were wrong.
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: They didn't belong to God at all. The ones they
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: persecuted did. So what does He promise? Security forever in
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: heaven and a personal relationship with God. Third thing, I'm
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: going to write on them the name of the city
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: of my God, the New Jerusalem which comes down out
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: of heaven from my God. What did that mean, citizenship?
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: They get eternal citizenship in the capital city of heaven
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: which is the New Jerusalem. This is another note of security,
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: another note of safety. Another note of glory. Revelation 21,
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: we'll get into this later, of course, says, I saw
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: the holy city, verse 2, the new Jerusalem coming down
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: adorned for her husband. Then he goes on to describe
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: this incredible city all the way through chapter 21. You
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: can read all the way from verse 10 to 27,
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: read this incredible description of this city made up of
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: all kinds of jewels and shining in the midst of
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: it is the glory of God and the Lamb is
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: the lamp of it. capital city of heaven. So He says,
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: first of all, I'm going to put you in a
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: permanent place. You'll never have to leave. I'm going to
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: write My name on you. I'm going to give you
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: citizenship in the capital city of heaven. And then He says, fourthly,
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to give you My new name. Christ's
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: own new name. What does that mean? Well, the name
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: of God or the name of Christ means all that
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: He is. We know Christ. We know Christ, but we
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: only know what we have read. We haven't seen Him.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: The moment we see Him, His persona will take on
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: utterly new dimensions. And whatever we may have called Him
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: and understood by the name will pale completely. in the
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: reality of what we see. And there'll be a new
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: name to describe Him. And He'll give us that new
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: name and we'll be privileged to call Him by it.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: Chapter 2, verse 28, He said, I'll give you the
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: morning star. That's it. I'll give you Christ. I'll give
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: you Christ in His full glory. Not just the incarnate
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: Jesus that we have seen only with the eye of faith,
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: but the all-glorious God whom we see with the eye
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: of a redeemed body. So that final word is so rich.
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: You folks overcome. You hang in there to the end,
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: and I'll make it worth your while. I'll put you
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: in eternal heaven secure forever, and I'll write the name
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: of God on you, and I'll write the name of
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: the new Jerusalem on you, and I'll give you My
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: new name by which you can address Me forever. And
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: then he says in verse 13,' He who has an ear,
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' Boy,
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: this is one I'm glad I heard. You too? The holy, true, sovereign,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: mighty God looks down on a faithful church, knows their deeds,
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: and yet is no threat. In fact, He says to
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: the faithful church, I'll open the doors of the kingdom
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: and pour out blessing and salvation. I'll open the doors
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: of evangelistic opportunity. I'll bless you because you have power,
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: because you have obedience, because you have loyalty, because you
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: have endurance. You have passed all the tests and because
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: of that I will grant you salvation, kingdom blessings and
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: deliverance from the hour of testing. I'll let you miss
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: the final and I will take you from this world
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: into a place of eternal, stable glory. I will take
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: you to a permanent relationship with Me and you will
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: know My name and Mine will be written on you
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: in the name of the city of Jerusalem. Oh, the
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: blessedness of being a faithful church. Do you see the
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: power of these letters? They should win over an unfaithful church, one,
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: by the letters to the unfaithful churches that should frighten
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: an unfaithful church, two, by the letters to the faithful
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: churches that should woo by virtue of the immensity of
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: the promises an unfaithful church to faithfulness. You've been listening
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with Grace To You. For
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: free access to all of John's lessons and a listing
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: of study Bibles and books available for sale, visit Grace
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: To You's website at gty.org. John MacArthur and Grace To
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: You reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright
• 1:05:14
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• 1:05:19
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