1 THE FAITHFUL CHURCH (Part 2) REVELATION 3:10-11 July 6, 2014 Dr. Danny Forshee - The name William Carey is synonymous with missions and perseverance. He is referred to as the Father of Modern Missions. This 18 th century British Baptist was a teacher and cobbler by trade, but he was convinced and convicted by the Holy Spirit that the gospel of Jesus Christ must be preached to those who had not heard. Carey s efforts to raise support for missions were frowned upon by most. In ne meeting a man told Carey that if God wanted to evangelize the heathen He would do so with or without Carey s help. Carey founded the Baptist Missionary Society, but the organization could not find someone to go as a missionary, so Carey went himself. It was the same Carey, remember, who made this famous statement, Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God. Carey went to Calcutta India and wrote back to his supporter that there were numerous obstacles and he had no choice but... to keep pressing onward! He traveled south of Calcutta by foot to the Sunderbund. He worked 5 years in an indigo factory to support his family. He witnessed to those in the factory, visited the villages, and also translated the Bible into the Bengali language, Bengalese. Carey was a natural linguist. In his lifetime he translated the Scripture, or portions of it, into 35 languages! He labored ceaselessly for years before he saw his first convert, but by the time of his death a church was planted in India. Others would follow in his footsteps being motivated by his powerful example. On time Carey spoke these words to a friend. There is nothing remarkable in what I have done. It has only required patience and perseverance. (See Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, p. 306-311 and the attached notes from Ken.) - Patience and perseverance when we possess these two sterling qualities by the grace of God there is nothing that we cannot accomplish for His glory and our blessing. The church at Philadelphia, the faithful church, was a body of believers who persevered in their commitment to Jesus Christ and Jesus greatly blessed them for their service to Him. - Today we look at the second in a two-part message on the church at Philadelphia as we continue our study in the book Revelation. - The church at Philadelphia is a model church for us in the 21 st century. Dr. David Jeremiah writes that our Lord commended the church because they were excited about their future. That s how I feel about my church, and I hope it is how you
2 feel about yours. There is no church that has a greater future than ours and I hope you believe no church has a greater future than yours! Jeremiah goes on to point out that It is when we feel totally inadequate to carry out the ministry God has given that we are in the right place.... Big opportunity and little strength is God s recipe for victory and a great future. (p. 102-103) I enjoy hearing pastors and other leaders brag on their people. It is a sign of good leadership. I came across this article last week and thought it very insightful 5 Characteristics of Great Leaders--love your team, give praise, seldom use your power, surround yourself with rock stars, and cast vision. (From EntreLeadership, http://www.daveramsey.com/article/characteristics-of-greatleaders/lifeandmoney_business) - Last week we noticed the praise that Jesus gave to the church at Philadelphia because of their works, open doors, little strength, faithfulness, and obedience (vs. 8). Today we will notice the driving force or impetus behind their faithfulness and that was their perseverance. - Read the text Revelation 3:7-13. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. - While studying this marvelous text it became clear to me that there is a common thread running through these verses. As God s people serve Him diligently God blesses them. The verses in Deuteronomy 30:14-20 came to mind. But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your
3 life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. I. PERSEVERANCE LEADS TO PRESERVATION (VS. 10-11) - In vs. 10 Jesus commends them for their perseverance and then promises them that they will escape the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world. - The Greek word translated kept is tereo and it means to attend to carefully. The word for persevere is hypomonē and it means to endure, or as one definition reads, In the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. (BlueletterBible.org) - Before we look into the meaning of this hour of trail, that what our Lord notices and commends is perseverance. To serve God when you do not want to or to live for Christ when you feel like you are the only one, or to hang in there when it seems like everyone else has given into temptation this is perseverance. - The Christian life resembles the Tour de France much more than it does the 100- meter dash. There are days of pedaling downhill with the wind at our back, and all is well. But then there are days, and may we keep in mind that these days are for our own good, when we struggle uphill and the wind is in our faces. What are we to do? We are to do as the believers at Philadelphia did push forward, keeping His Word, and not denying His name. (vs. 8) - Bad things happen to God s people and when they do, we must persevere and press on. I have never had kidney stones, but I hear they are absolutely wretched. The pain is fierce and it can immobilize you. Army Chaplain Aaron Noland served in Iraq during the war. His purpose for being there was to encourage young soldiers and help change people s lives by introducing them to Jesus Christ. While overseas Noland developed kidney stones and was hospitalized in Kuwait. While waiting to return to the US, he ministered to our military personnel who were in the hospital. Now get this, while he was in the hospital suffering from kidney stones, he led six people to Jesus Christ and one of them was an Iraqi citizen. (From www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp July 3, 2003) - Last Sunday night about 8:00 pm Leighton and I decided to go for a jog and both of us were already sore from Frisbee football with our GH college ministry. But we decided to go anyhow. Soon after beginning our 3.7-mile run, I made a note to self; do not eat a huge Whataburger cheeseburger with onions before running! When it got really tough Leighton told me Dad it is all mental. Aside from the cheeseburger issue, he was right and his words enabled me to persevere and press on and finish our run.
4 - My interpretation of the hour of trial that the Philadelphian church was spared is the same hour of trial from which all believers will be spared the Great Tribulation. It is a period of seven years, mentioned in Daniel and referred to in Revelation. It will be the most horrendous time of travail that this world has ever seen. Chapters 6-19 of Revelation describe life here on earth and heaven during this catastrophic time. Dr. David Jeremiah states (p. 101), It is interesting that the word church is found 19 times in the first three chapters of Revelation. But from Revelation 4 on, which describes the Tribulation, there is no further reference to the church on earth. It would seem logical that if we were going to be going through his awful time on earth the Lord would have included some reference to it in Revelation 4-19. The reason for silence regarding the church is that we are in heaven during the time of testing. - I hold to the pretribulational theory, which is, believers will be raptured away by Christ prior to this time of great tribulation. Notice Jesus did not say He would keep us through the hour of trial but from it. (David Jeremiah, p. 101) - Another pretribulational adherent says, The sweeping nature of that promise extends far beyond the Philadelphia congregation to encompass all faithful churches throughout history. (MacArthur, p. 124) - Jesus tells the church in vs. 11 that He is coming quickly. Critics of Scripture will point to this passage and state that the Bible is in error, but they are mistaken. God does not view time like we view time. For example, He refers to the sevenyear tribulation as but an hour in vs. 10. I have shared this before and will again today that we are in the last days. The last days is the timeframe from Jesus first coming until His second advent. The emphasis here in vs. 11 is not immediacy but imminence. Jesus can come at any moment so be prepared. CONCLUSION - It is amazing what we can accomplish if we simply refuse to give up. On Thursday last week Louis Zamperini died at the age of 97. One of the best books I have ever read is the book Unbroken: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. It is the story of the amazing life of Zamperini. He ran in the 1936 Olympics and was a great athlete. He is a portrait of perseverance. Alter his plane was shot down in the Pacific Ocean he survived on a raft while drifting in the ocean for 47 days. He was captured by the Japanese and taken to Japan in a horrible prison for 2 years and sorely mistreated by a man they called the Bird. After coming to faith in Jesus at the Billy Graham 1949 Greater Los Angeles Crusade God worked in his life and
he was able to forgive the Japanese prison guard. Angelina Jolie is directing a movie about his life that is to come out in December. He lived to be 97 and was a fighter until the end of his life. - Some here today need to hear the words of Jesus and persevere and hold on. Everything around and within says give up or take the easy way out yet God is with you. If you know Him you are an overcomer. As a follower of Christ you have the Spirit of God within you and the church of God around you. - Tuesday night when I ran in the glow stick 5 k at the Highland Lakes Camp, there were some hills that were difficult for me to climb, but each time I climbed the hill I made the turn and there were a group of GH students cheering me and the other runners to hang in there. Amanda Pitman actually came up beside me and ran with me and then she said ok that is all, but it really encouraged me to keep going and not quit though my body wanted to quit. That is a picture of what the church should be about, encouraging one another to press on and persevere. - If you do not know Jesus and have a relationship with Him, I invite you at this moment to surrender your heart to Him and follow Him. And allow us the privilege of being your encouragers and also let us help you follow Jesus in your public profession of faith in believer s baptism. - Pray and have the invitation. 5