Revelation 3:7-13
3:7, We see Christ as the Sovereign God. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
3:8 He is the One Who knows our works, I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
He knows All: our attitude, our motive. He said their works were acceptable. They kept His Word. That means they were familiar with His Word. [Be in the Bible Reading Revival – read His word! You find doors He opens when reading His word.]
3:9 He makes even your enemies be at peace with you, Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Pro_16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
We shrink satan’s kingdom by bringing the gospel to others which increases the Kingdom of God. The enemies of the gospel are not beyond the saving power of the Gospel. We hear through our missionaries of muslins coming to faith in Christ renouncing their religion. People need to see Christ and not our religious convictions.
3:10 He promises deliverance, Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
“The Word of my patience” is the word of endurance or perseverance. We see the encouragement for the believer to bear up in their present suffering and to continue in faithfulness and endurance because of the promise of deliverance from the time of trouble, the tribulation that is coming on the world. All believers will be rapture from any church. It is our life that the LORD is seeking to encourage each believer to run their race to the finish line when we see Jesus.
3:11 He is coming without unnecessary delays, Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. If we don’t know the time we must be ready all the time.
Crowns are rewards, the highest form of rewards, “That no man take thy crown…” This means don’t allow someone to cause you to forfeit your crown. Don’t allow someone to cause you to quit the race. To have the crown you must finish the race, Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.,
2 Timothy 2:12-13, If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
3:12 A promise to the overcomer, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
A promise of closeness, nearness with Him in eternity, and a place of prominence in His eternal kingdom. It is a place eternally, It will never be rescinded. “And I will write upon him my new name”.
We as believers have unlimited opportunity:
1] A living Saviour, Hebrews 7:25, Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
2] Access into the very presence of God: The Person of Christ allows you access into the very presence of God. We can go where Christ goes. He is our forerunner, Hebrews 6:18-20. What is within the veil? Answer: The LORD God Himself! Hebrews 9:12, 14, 24; Hebrews 10:19-20.
3] Assurance that God hears our prayers, Hebrews 4:13-16. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
We don’t always have the certainty that God will answer our prayers as we ask them. We are not all-knowing nor are we all-wise. Here are some things to remember about prayer:
A] [Jesus taught His disciple the power of His name, John 16:23b – 24, “….Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Joh 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. ] We know our prayers are to be in the Name of Jesus, which is not a phrase to be tact on as if to demand to be heard. But praying in Jesus' name is praying according to His will.
B] You as a believer are His Child and He is your heavenly Father, Luke 11:1-13,
C] You should always pray, Luke 18:1-8
D] I don’t know how to pray as I ought, Romans 8:26-28 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
E] The urgency of you your prayer availeth much, James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
F] The prayer of Believers are remembered, Gen 19:27-29 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
4] An open door to take the message of Christ to others. It is the LORD who has opened the door for you. We should recognize that door of opportunity. That door for most of us is not across the world from us but rather across the room, or the table, etc.
Missing in today’s Christianity is the urgency of speaking the gospel, proclaiming our love for Christ. We have forgotten that every person must be born of the Spirit to go to heaven. The tragedy of being blinded to the gospel by satan is a reality and the saving power of Jesus Christ we hold in our, earthen vessels. My prayer for you, His Child is that you see the opportunity He has set before you.
2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The god of this world is satan. Why is there so much tragedy and heartache? Sin! Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
This world will pass away! Our time on earth will pass away. Your struggle in this life is not with the sovereignty of God but with Bible Doctrine, the saving message of Jesus Christ and our own heart. Jer_17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? When Jesus Christ reigns on the earth, it will be with a rod of iron. Why? Because of man’s heart. Every person must believe on Christ for eternal life to be born again.
Look in the tribulation, Rev_9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Rev_9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.Rev_16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.Rev_16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Between the cradle and the grave is our opportunity to prepare for eternity. And that is the real issue of life. Here is something I read
What Do We Need to Believe about Jesus to Be Saved?
The question was put to the writer of this article, Bob Wilken.
“I know from the Bible that you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved as mentioned in Acts 16:31 and John 6:47. However, what about Him do we need to believe to be saved?
The is the $64,000 question, isn’t it?
First, I commend Alex for recognizing that the issue is believing, simply being convinced that something is true. Probably 90% of Evangelicals consider faith to be work. Alex is not trying to change believing into behaving. He is not suggesting that belief is really surrender, commitment, turning from sins, and obeying God. Believing is simply being persuaded.
But what about Jesus do we need to be persuaded is true?
Great question. And now Wilken puts forth his answer:
Back in 2008 and 2009, there were two books written that suggested there were five or more essentials truths that must be believed in order to be born again. Their lists were slightly different.
The following is a combined list of “the essentials” from those two books:
1) Jesus Christ is the Son of God;
2) Jesus Christ is genuinely human;
3) He never sinned;
4) He is equal to Yahweh God;
5) He died on the cross as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sins;
6) He rose bodily from the dead;
7) He gives everlasting life to all who trust Him and Him alone for it.
It is not clear why they include those truths but not other fundamental truths, like the virgin birth, the inerrancy of Scripture, the Second Coming of Christ, the Trinity, and Jesus’ eternality and immutability.
The problem these two authors had is that there is no passage in the Bible that lists all the supposed essential truths. They are forced to go to a variety of texts in order to create their own list of the essential truths. The fact that they come up with different lists is telling. Lacking any text that gives us all the essentials, we will certainly come up with different lists in our patchwork evangelistic message.
Why didn’t the Lord tell Nicodemus or the woman at the well everything they needed to believe to be born again? Why did Paul give an insufficient answer to the Philippian jailer’s question (Acts 16:30-31)? Why doesn’t the Book of Acts give us a sermon in which someone (Peter, Philip the evangelist, Paul, Barnabas) listed all of the essentials? The answer is that Jesus, Paul, Philip the evangelist, and all the apostles stated all one needed to believe to be born again. They left nothing out.
The Scriptures are clear what we need to believe about Jesus in order to be born again. John 3:16 gives you the answer. We must believe that Jesus is telling the truth when He promises that whoever believes in Him will not perish but has everlasting life.
Jesus guarantees that anyone who believes in Him for everlasting life is secure forever from that moment of believing. Many times in John’s Gospel the Lord promises that the one who believes in Him will never hunger, will never thirst, will never perish, will never die, will never be cast out, will never be lost, will never be plucked from His hand or from His Father’s hand, and will never come into judgment regarding his eternal destiny (John 3:16; 4:10-14; 5:24; 6:35, 37, 39; 10:28, 29; 11:26)."
You as a believer in Jesus for the everlasting life He promised have the truth your loved ones need and life has brought you to this place of opportunity.
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