The Church in Philadelphia
Notes
Transcript
Over the last few weeks, people have talked about the end times more than in the weeks prior. I have preached about the end in the last few years more than I have in the years prior. I believe that Christ is returning soon. It is so important that we get ready.
In our text today, Jesus tells the church in Philadelphia, “I am coming soon...” Let’s look at what he says. If you have your bibles, go to the book of Revelation. We are reading from chapter 3, beginning at verse 7.
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.
10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Did you notice something different about this church? The video makes reference to it, but this is the only church that Jesus doesn’t condemn for something they were doing wrong.
As a matter of fact, this church was suffering. They were staying true to Jesus and they were being attacked for their stance by a group of people that claimed to be Jews, but Jesus called them the synagogue of Satan. He called them liars.
Jesus tells the church because of their endurance, He is going to keep them from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world. Again, here is a promise that Jesus intends to keep.
And in verse 11 He tells the church, I am coming soon. He didn’t give a time line. He just simply says I am coming soon.
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
One thing you should know as a believer, God’s time is not the same as time like we know it. God is not limited by time the way we are.
We do know here and in other passages that God will keep us from “the hour of trial.”
The same phraseology is found in John 17:15
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
Also the reference here is to the church being caught away.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
We find the same foreshortened view where Paul includes himself and the Thessalonians when he writes in 1 Thessalonians 1:10
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
God wants us to live in the light and hope of Christ’s coming, so what is said to the Philadelphian church applies to us as well.
Some people believe that we will go through the tribulation. But look at our text again in verse 10.
10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
The believers are not merely to be kept from Satan but kept out of a time that is coming on all the world. The Greek clearly means “from,” or “out of,” not “through.”
As believers, we are looking forward to the rapture of the church. When Jesus comes back to take his church.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
One of these days Jesus is going to burst through the clouds and come back for His people. This passage and one other talks about this event.
We know that just before those that are alive are raptured out of here, those that are “dead in Christ” will be resurrected first.
At the same time as the dead in Christ rise, followers of Christ who are alive on earth will be transformed, their bodies becoming imperishable and immortal. This will happen in an instant.
Both the resurrected Christians and those who are instantly transformed will be caught up together to meet Christ in the air. They will be visibly united with Christ, taken to heaven and reunited with loved ones who have died knowing Christ.
They will be removed from all suffering and distress, from all persecution and oppression and from the entire realm of sin and death. The rapture also rescues Jesus’ followers from “the coming wrath”—the great tribulation.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:51-54
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
Paul says we will be changed. In the twinkling of an eye, changed instantly.
Think about this for a moment, There is about an inch distance between the front of your iris to the back of your retina. Light travels at 186,000 miles a second. At that speed, it takes about a 64th of a nanosecond to travel 1 inch. That’s how fast we will be changed.
One minute, the way you see yourself now. The next, boom! A resurrected body.
One minute, sad. The next, our tears will be wiped away for good.
One minute, in pain. The next, no more pain.
When you read about the post-resurrection accounts of Jesus’ body, He could manipulate His molecules to pass through walls. he could eat fish. He could travel over long distances instantaneously. That’s what our resurrected bodies will be like. When Jesus returns, we’ll get those bodies in a 64th of a nanosecond.
This is going to be an amazing event. One like never before in history.
When?
When?
So, when will the rapture take place?
The 1 Thessalonians 4 passage that I read to you is the most direct and clear teaching on the rapture in the New Testament. It speaks only of believers, living and dead. Nothing is said about the wicked seeing Christ at this time. Paul described Jesus as coming in the air, but nothing is said about His feet touching the earth, as we are told in Zechariah 14:4
4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
There are passages which pertain to the Rapture that describe the coming of the Lord for His people. And there are passages which refer to the revelation of Christ that describe the coming of the Lord with His saints.
4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
This speaks of believers appearing with Christ at His coming.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
This verse forsees the Lord’s return with His people to execute the judgment referred to in many other passages relating to His public appearing.
And since scripture does not contradict itself, it seems reasonable to conclude that the passages describing Christ’s coming for the saints and with the saints indicate two phases of his coming. So, I believe that it is scripturally correct to assume that the intervening period between the two is the time when the world will experience the Great Tribulation, involving the reign of Antichrist and the outpouring of God’s wrath on the wicked.
Although God’s people may endure severe trials before the Lord comes, the Church will be raptured before the period called the Great Tribulation.
In 1 Thessalonians 5, the passage following the one on the rapture of the church, Paul taught about the Day of the Lord. He warned of the destruction it will bring to the wicked. And he was quick to assure Christians that those who abide in Christ will not be overtaken by it.
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Still speaking of the day of the lord Paul wrote:
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It seems clear that he meant the deliverance of believers from the judgments of the Day of the Lord, including the Great Tribulation.
I truly believe that we will be raptured out of here before the tribulation period.
There are some that believe we will be raptured mid way through the tribulation and there are some that believe we will be raptured at the end of the tribulation.
It doesn’t matter which you believe. You need to do research for yourself and while you are going through it I will see you at the millennium reign of Christ because I believe God is taking His people before the great tribulation.
And don’t let this be something that will cause division in the church. This is not an issue that we should argue about. We should all be ready for whenever the Lord comes back.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:18
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
In whatever time Jesus returns, He is returning, and we should be encouraged because this is the ultimate great moment where we will meet Him face to face.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Keep serving the Lord, because He will reward you when He comes.
Jesus is coming back to claim us and change us and welcome us into an earthly kingdom under His rulership, and nothing and no one can stop Him.
One last thing, in Revelation 1, when John saw the resurrected Jesus as He is now, he said...
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
In Jesus’ first ministry on earth, Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He was gentle and meek. Today though, Jesus is the Lion of Judah! He is so magnificent, He took John’s breath away. John could not even stand in His presence.
That is the Jesus who is returning, and His return will be glorious! Every promise He makes to you in scripture will be as true during the Tribulation as it was at the time of your birth.
Let me close by reminding you of something. Look at verse 13 of our text.
13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Do you remember what this means? This is for us as well.
Jesus is coming soon and you need to make sure that you are ready. This is not something to be scared of, but it is something to rejoice about. God is up to something and He is getting His church ready.
I said last week to wake up. Today, I am telling you to get ready. Jesus is coming soon.
Let’s pray.