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okay this morning let’s take our Bibles and turn to the Book of Revelation if you’re not familiar with your Bible just turn to the back part of your Bible it’s the last book in your Bible and we’re looking at chapter three chapter 3 before start I’d like to just say that people come up to me and they say to me I was just talking to a Brethren this morning and they said to me Pastor what could we do for you and I says there’s two things you can do you can pray for me and you can be faithful those are the two most encouraging things that you give to anybody who ministers the word of God is just be faithful and pray because prayer PR is the most powerful thing we can do as Believers to keep ourselves and each other walking on the straight and narrow serving the Lord with all our heart giving him the glory for everything T takes place whether it’s on the bad end or the good end and then taking the next step bring breathing the next breath until God takes us out of here amen that’s really the most encouraging thing be faithful be prayerful in fact when we come to the Church of Philadelphia this morning that’s exactly what you find you find a faithful Church a church that remained faithful to the Savior and his word right to the end so that’s what we’re going to look at today let’s pray Lord this morning as we come to your word we know Lord there’s nothing like it this has been written by the spirit of God as he moved upon holy men to write exactly what you wanted and you preserve the word of God right up until this very day and right to the end you will so we know this morning we have the word of God in our hand Lord let it get into our ears and down to our heart and let it move our will and change our mind and I pray Lord Jesus that we would become holy and godly people people and that you Lord you would be blessed by our life and that we would learn to bless you by our life so Lord give us receptive Hearts today as we look at the very word of God to us and I pray this in Christ’s name amen as I’ve been saying along the way we’re looking at verse 7-13 and we’re looking at the church at Philadelphia remember these are the seven churches there’s one more church after this church that we’ve looked at and this is Christ who is walking among his churches examining them to see how they’re doing and then giving an evaluation about what’s really going on actually what does God see going on in that church and in the hearts of those people and the Bible of course tells us that the church is a lampstand it holds up the light of the gospel that’s the job of the church and then God has in his right hand the Ministers of the church and he comes among them and he evaluates them so far we looked at the church at Ephesus that was the Church of declining love the next we looked at the church of pergamin that was the church allowing truth to slip by tolerating false Doctrine then thirdly the warning is to the Church of thura allowing uh compromising with sin within the church allowing it to go on without doing anything about it and then we looked at the church at Sardis the church that was warn for Spiritual deadness because the church became apathetic and indifferent to spiritual things that can happen to us this Lord’s Day I would like to look at this second of the two churches identified in Revelation that had no warnings or condemnations now of course it should come to our mind I want to be like that church I want to be that way but it doesn’t just happen it doesn’t just happen see it should be of great interest to us as to what is going on in this church that brings no condemnation from the Lord remember the Lord is has piercing judgment he pierces right down to the the the intents of your heart and to have no criticism from the Lord I want to be like this church see again Jesus Christ is The Sovereign over over his church is walking amongst his people and that means he is personally present he is in our midst and in order to and while he’s in our midst he’s examining our spiritual condition to see how we’re doing and then this church at Philadelphia this was a city it was named after a man named Atlas Atlas was called philadelphias and the city was named after him of course we we get the word Philadelphia from the word brotherly love maybe that has nothing to do with the name of the church maybe it does but Philadelphia was a a a city of tremendous potential in as much as its mission in earlier days had been to spread to the city of the door of opportunity to promote Greek culture over against the Hebrew culture so helenismo achievement of the Greeks in social and political and areas like the Arts and Science and philosophy and morals and religion that tried to they had an open door to do that in that area of Asia Minor it was famous for its Vineyards and hot springs and the City was destroyed by an earthquake during the reign of tiberious and earth earthquakes were frequent in that area and very unstable it still is the area of turkey uh it still is today therefore many people lived in rural areas around the city of Philadelphia and sometimes the city was called Little Athens because of the prevalence of idols and paganistic gods that were in the city and were worshiped dionisis was the god of wine and that was the city’s Chief deity so the church in Philadelphia had enjoyed freedom from Pagan persecution and from heresies within the church but as was true of Samara the other true the church that had no condemnation the Jews had created difficulties for the Christians in Philadelphia so this morning as we look at every Church there is a certain pattern that the Bible uh lays out for us and the first part of the outline is that of Christ’s character is always highlighted before the Lord gives an evaluation and so let’s look at the highlighted passage verse number seven of chapter 3 it says and the angel and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write he who is Holy who is true who has the Key of David who opens and no one will shut and who shuts and no one opens says this says the Lord all right the Lord’s character in other words is put before the evaluation because Christ’s attributes have something to do with the evalu uation of this church and there’s three vital things highlighted concerning Christ’s person first one is that Jesus is the Holy One in verse 7even he who is Holy and of course that is linking Jesus to the Old Testament designation of God which reminds uh us of God’s crowning attribute that of being holy holy holy that that attribute shines through all the other attributes of the Lord more than anything else and that Jesus is God and none but God is absolutely holy meaning that he is separate from what is common he is different so in our context it speaks of the Messiah Holiness here is not necessarily emphasizing Christ’s sinless nature as much as his role as God’s servant who is specifically set apart for a certain task in the world in fact when you read the book of Acts you’ll find that it says many times in Acts several times that it’s referred to Jesus as your holy servant Jesus and again your holy servant Jesus is a common phrase of Jesus because he is different he’s holy and when Jesus preached the real cost of believing him and following him when that large crowd was following him and they finally left because he gave a clear indication of the Gospel would it meant to follow him they all left and 12 guys stood there and Jesus said to them Simon Peter Jesus talking to him said Lord uh Jesus said are you going to leave to and he says where where are we going to go you have the words of eternal life and then they said this we believe that you have come we have come to know that you are the Holy One Of God you are different you are not like the other prophets you are not like the other priests you are not like the other leaders of Israel you are different they knew that Jesus is the one who is separate and different and thus to say Jesus is Holy is to say that he shares the being of God he is God a second thing look in our text in verse 7 it says this about Jesus Jesus is the true one in other words Jesus is the genuine one Christ is the real deal absolutely faithful to his word actually the terms holy and true appli to Christ and it’s mentioned in Revelation 6 and verse number 10 where the those crying under the altar those martyred saints that triggered the wrath of God were crying out and what were they crying they were crying this in Revelation 610 and they cried out with a loud voice saying how long oh Lord holy and true so here are the Martyr Saints alive under the Throne of God and they’re crying out Lord you are the Holy One you are the true one so their cry leads the world to recognize that this is the Judgment of God because they have persecuted persecuted the followers of the Lamb so the two attributes holy and true together may suggest that God is Holy and he is a god of great wrath because it implies Holiness implies Purity it implies Perfection it implies absolute uprightness therefore God is against all impurity he is against all immorality he is against all unrighteousness and because he is true he said that he would do something about all these evils and judge and avenge them and he will do that because he is Holy and true in fact if you read through the word of God you find out that that jesus’ nature answers to his very name where the Thessalonians when they heard the gospel the Bible said they turn from their Idols to the living and true God well how do they know that because God showed them that they show showed that these idolators now knew who the real God was so the living and true God and living not only means that he is alive but he is active he is involved he’s personal he is the god who orders all things in heaven and on Earth and of course living is given in contrast to all the dead Idols who neither can be alive or active dead ID dead Idols simply do nothing in fact if you read psalms you’ll find that in the Psalms it says Idols can’t speak they can’t see they can’t hear they can’t smell they can’t feel they can’t walk all and you have to carry them around right and it says and those who make them will become like them everyone who trust in them will become like the idol or The God they serve that’s how they’ll become like but Jeremiah the prophet said but the Lord is the true God he is the Living God he is the Everlasting in King at his wrath the earth quakes and the Nations cannot endure his indignation that’s who Jesus is and then there’s a third designation of his attribute in verse number seven of Revelation 3 and notice what it says who is true who has the Key of David he has the Key of David now anyone who holds keys anyone who holds keys to something also has the wherewithal to open and close something right I remember when when I was in in the Marine Corps I was part of a task where we did uh nuclear security and the nuclear security codes came out every single day and with the nuclear security codes came the cipher lock door codes which changed every day so you really had to keep on top of things and you had to go through several Cipher lock doors to actually get to the weapons and these were massive very uh strong doors and if you didn’t know the code you couldn’t get in but once that door shut behind you you couldn’t get out somebody had to let you out so it was kind of a devast it was kind of of a sober type of thing but I know I’m so glad somebody at the other end had the uh the keys to open those doors whether it was electronically or not so Jesus his faith fulness is described in relationship to possessing the Key of David and the key in David’s time King David’s time which we read this morning was of course eliakim Authority was transferred to shna who was removed from his office because he was Unworthy of his office and the Bible tells us in Isaiah that we read this morning that he the Lord will entrust the keys of David the Key of David to eliakim and it says I will UST entrust to him the keys with authority and he will become the father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the house of Judah then I will set the key of the House of David on his shoulders to do what when he opens no one will shut and when he shuts no one will open that becomes an important theme in this particular passage of scripture so he he was over the household of David in the Old Testament but what does that mean for us it means that Christ he is the heir of the Throne of David and he will replace all the less worthy stewards of the House of David who have abused their trust in God’s spiritual house and he will reign over Israel Forever In fact when you read in the gospels right in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke where the angel is telling Mary everything that Jesus is going to be and do it says this and he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give him the Throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jac forever and his kingdom will have no end so Jesus keeps the key to the kingdom of God both the Earthly and the Heavenly Kingdom he opens and shuts according to his will so the key that is spoken of here is one key with double power and that Key’s double power is that of opening and shutting and that person who has the keys has the authority to open something and then shut something and no one else could do that except this person so the authority to open and close the door to the kingdom of God rest with Christ and he decides who is and who is not to be admitted see the power is described to us in chapter one of Revelation where it says that he has the keys of hell and death and keys and locks were symbols of power and authority authority which no one could question so the open door given to this church at Philadelphia was the open door of missionary work it was the open door of of preaching the gospel that once the Lord opened that door to preach the gospel nobody could shut it not even the opposition that was against this church so Jesus only has the key to open the door of the gospel and when it is open no one no thing no demon can stop it see there is a question that does come up when you’re studying this portion of scripture and the question is this wait a minute is is someone trying to stop the spread of the Gospel yes someone’s tried to stop it look at Revelation chap 3 verse number n what it says it says behold I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but lie so here’s a group of people the Jews who claim to be the children of Abraham and think they are already Heirs of the Kingdom because they’re Jews but they have made a great mistake and what’s what’s the mistake they make it’s the mistake a lot of people make they have rejected the one who has the keys wait a minute if I can’t get into the kingdom of God if I want to get into the kingdom of God I have to go to the one who has the keys Jesus is the one who has the key and if the Jews don’t come to Jesus the Messiah and they say that Jesus is the Messiah is not the Messiah then they lie because Jesus is the Messiah and these Jews failed to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah he was the way into the kingdom of God as I was saying to our students this morning in our membership class Jesus is the only door there’s not many doors there’s not many ways to God there could be millions of religions in the world but there is only one way exclusively and that’s Jesus and Jesus has the key so if you try to get in any other way with any other philosophy of life you’re not making it I don’t care how good people think you are I don’t care how good you think you are are you’re not getting into the kingdom of God unless you come to Jesus Christ as your lord and your savior so the bottom line is that Christ the true David has the key of the Supreme government upon him and he has the authority the absolute authority to open or close the door to the kingdom and no one can countermand him no one can and the reason why is because Jesus alone has the authority to admit to the New Jerusalem to the new city of David that will be and Jesus the true Messiah is the New and Living Way into the presence of God if you don’t go to Jesus who holds the key to the kingdom of God well then you are locked out you see if you haven’t come to Jesus you will be you will remain locked out and that’s the bottom line and that’s really the hard part of the Gospel but the point is come to the one who has the key so he opens it up to you by repentance and faith and he let you in so your sins can be forgiven you can be made right with God and then you can go on and live for him the rest of your life and just for your information there’s always opposition to the gospel there’s never been a time that there has not been opposition to the gospel so our prayer should always be that the Lord Jesus would fling open the door for preaching the gospel for sharing the gospel and that he would give us gospel success that should be our prayer in fact the Apostle Paul in Colossians said pray for me that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned so there we have opposition and success of the Gospel together he preached the gospel and he got got him put in jail but the gospel still went out people still got saved and people are going to get saved why because Jesus opened the door to the gospel and the door is still open today and I don’t think Jesus would have given an open door for the gospel to this church at Philadelphia if it were not for their High view of Jesus the Messiah they had a high view of God and they also next had a high view of the Great Commission that God gave them to bring the gospel now in saying that let’s look at Christ’s Commendation to the church beginning we’re going to look at it in a second but what is God’s or excuse me God’s condemnation to this church and of course I already said that there’s none again the Lord is about to evaluate their spiritual condition but the church at Philadelphia had no condemnation Jesus the evaluator doesn’t condemn this church for anything his skillful eye finds no criticism so you would have to ask another question why would the Lord give this church an open door that no one could shut why not only did they have a high view of God but now let’s look at the Commendation to this church we find this in verse number eight of Chapter 3 of Revelation now before I look at that the Lord knows everything about us he knows everything we do everything we are going through he knows everything and I want you to notice in verse number eight what it says I know your Deeds I know your Deeds behold I have put before you an Open Door which no one can shut because you have little power and have kept my word and have not denied my name now if you just not notice there that the Lord is evaluating the church but there’s three characteristics of their faithfulness that is highlighted in verse number eight in other words the Lord’s giving them reasons why he gives them gospel success remember the other churches didn’t have the gospel success that this church had what’s the first reason look at verse number eight and I think it’s this their faithful dependence on Jesus is says because you have little power you have little power now you know what that means that means that this church is probably has little influence it has little weight in the city of Philadelphia and the members were probably from a lower class like it says in in Corinthians not many mighty not many noble was part of their congregation they weren’t a rich Church in fact they weren’t a large Church they had they had they weren’t a strong Church in the sense they were limited in resources it says they had little power so what does that mean they drew their strength from the Lord they learned that when they are weak God is strong and God’s power is perfected in weakness see when you know you are weak you learn to depend on the one who is strong and that is not only Jesus Christ holding the key to get into into the kingdom but to remain walking in a way that you will honor the Lord he has to give you that strength so we may also draw out from this that to Bear quietly may be a Divine calling as much as the call to Hope largely that God is always at work in quietness the size of the church has no bearing on God’s working among them this is a small Church this is a small church so the Christians are comforted with the assurance that the design of their enemies would not be permitted to succeed that their cause would survive and that many from the city would continue to enter into the redeemer’s fold and come into the kingdom of God so they’re certain uh that and there are always certain times and places where the door of the Gospel is open and the door of the Gospel is closed and so they were Faithfully depending on Jesus but look at the next characteristic of their uh faithfulness in verse number eight because you have kept my word that’s the second reason why he’s given them gospel success faithful in keeping jesus’ word obedient in spite of being little they would not let go of what they learned from the Lord they were not interested to entertain new beliefs and new thoughts the strength of the church does not consist of worldly wealth and worldly wisdom and worldly power but the strength of a church any church is faithfulness to God’s word and their profession of the name of Jesus Christ so the little power that this church had was effective against the United powers of Satan and its World system and even hell itself to stop that church from preaching the gospel so this kind of little but dependent power is prized by Jesus the church was not careless it was not prayerless it was not immoral it was small but faithful it was small but depending on Jesus and then notice a third reason why God gave him gospel success their faithful determination verse verse number eight because you have not denied my name so these Believers were firm in their purpose and their will and their intention to stick to God’s word and keep holding to the correct teaching about Christ and the correct gospel message and even when under the pressure of the government and Jewish opposition to not to denounce Jesus as Lord they did not but they kept faithful they didn’t deny the Lord in fact the use of the verb here in the aist tense the verb for denied points to a particular historical situation where these Believers were called upon to denounce Christ and they didn’t they didn’t denounce not mentioned but they didn’t do it they had proved themselves to be faithful to Christ they were faithful to confess Christ before men so just remember faithfulness has always been the test of divine blessing rather than success faithfulness rather than success so because one is faithful God grants this church several things other churches were not granted this also could be how the Lord’s power is displayed in their weakness by bestowing upon them gifts that only God himself could give them now what what what do I mean by that look at the end of verse number eight of chapter 3 he bestows upon them three Divine favors or promises and the first promise is undeniable entrance uh it says behold in verse number8 I have put before you an an Open Door which no one can shut to put before them is the sense that it it is in the perfect tense which in indicates A continuing condition that is going on in the church so no matter what happens to them no one could shut the door to the kingdom of God also they they proclaimed the message of Jesus Christ the Messiah that actually unlocks the promise of the Kingdom to all who repent and receive Jesus as their lord and savior so the encouragement for us is because Jesus has done this he has his foot in the door you know what happens when somebody puts their foot in the door right you trying to close the door but the foot doesn’t allow you to close it so you got to deal with this situation I don’t know if that’s happened to you before but Jesus has the foot in the door when it comes to the gospel that he has the foot and the door for evangelism and missions so again we should let uh broadcast the seed of the Gospel everywhere for that reason it’s going to fall into hearts and it’s going to save people that’s what God says so they had this Divine promise that they were going to bear fruit and then secondly and notice in verse number nine they had a Divine promise of vindication an exoneration now this is an incredible passage of scripture it says in verse number nine behold I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say that are they are Jews and are not but lie I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you now that’s incredible what the Lord is doing there and my friends you you have to look at this and say this is UN this is incredible what the Lord is doing that the Lord will declare that his children were not to blame or guilty of lying but will make the real Liars acknowledge that the Believers of Christ were actually right that Jesus also makes them Bow Low before them and then makes them know whom God really loves now Christ says that quite literally I will make some not all some of those who are of the synagogue of Satan now who are the synagogue of Satan it’s that phraseology is is pretty much in your face all right the Jews who thought they were right with God and in the Kingdom because they were children of Abraham God says no your your your synagogue is uh where Satan dwells Satan’s your father you don’t have the father who is in heaven so in other words that right here I will give some of those who are of the synagogue of Satan meaning that he will give some of them as converts they will eventually come to recognize Christ as Lord and bow down to the philadelphians acknowledging that you are right that Jesus is the Messiah that he is the son of God and here’s the gift that Jesus gives to the faithful church that these Jews vicious haters of Christ of the synagogue of Satan they will drop to their knees and bow their heads and come to the this this church and confess Jesus as the Holy One the true one the one who has the Key of David and some of these Jews joined themselves to Christ’s faith faithful Church wow but at the same time some of them will be humiliated by this because Jesus Will humiliate his enemies it says in verse number nine I will make them come to bow down at your feet so all will bow to Jesus some in Glad salvation others in bitter submission and that’s a true statement in fact just take your Bibles quickly and turn back to Philippians 2: 9-1 this this is a verse that goes right along with this because when you come excuse me and think about what the Lord is actually doing you see here in this particular text in of Philippians chap 2:9 through 11 it says for this reason also God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father you realize that’s going to take place someday everybody in heaven and hell will declare that Jesus Christ is God he is the holy and true one of God so Jesus Will Proclaim whom he loves before his enemies and that’s what it says in our text and make them know that I have loved you that Jesus has a has a general benevolence for all people but a particular love for his children and this will be a great day of humiliation for all religious non-religious unbelievers another God will honor Believers before the face of unbelievers see Christ also promises that because they have been faithful to endure persecution just as he did he will be faithful to keep them from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole world and that brings us to the Divine promise of protection and exemption look at verse number 10 of Revelation chapter 3 back to Revelation it says because you have kept my word the word of my perseverance I also will keep you from the hour of testing that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth and you know that little phrase my perseverance I believe that fa phrase deals with the Lord’s endurance is it not Jesus who endured the suffering Messiah who came to his own but his own did not receive him he endured the rejection of the Christ of the Cross so the Jews to the Jews the cross was a death trap to the Gentiles it was silliness as it says in scripture to the Jews it was a stumbling block to the Greeks it was of course silliness foolishness but to the Christians it is the power of God and the wisdom of God the gospel so the Lord’s way of delivering those who keep his word he shuts them away from the trials that will come upon others why because he says to them you you didn’t go beyond what was written you didn’t allow the world system to press you into its thinking you did not hold to the Traditions or the Commandments of men you were faithful to my word and because of that because of that I’m going to protect you see there’s no greater praise that can be given to any church than that they hold fully and completely to the word of God In fact when you read the gospels what does it say if anyone loves me what they will keep my word and and if you look at the opposite of that in also the Gospel of John he does not love me he doesn’t keep his his word so loving Christ and keeping his word go go together like hand in glove you cannot separate them somebody can’t go do what they think they ought to do contrary to what God Said in his word and say they’re a Believer and say they love God because they’re saying by what they do they don’t love God so Christ’s promise to the Faithful Is I will exempt you from the hour of testing that is coming on the whole world now because we know Revelation is going to get into that I believe this is referring to uh further the tribulation that comes upon the whole world and I believe here the church will not go through the tribulation the seven-year tribulation and therefore will be exempt from the trials of tribulation but I also understand that other believers believe that the church will go through the tribulation while they and while they are going through the tribulation they will be protected from the trials of tribulation but I have a question why would the Lord want the bride of Christ who’s already perfected and purified to go through the tribulation I find no reason to say yes to that question that they should I believe the the word the Lord is going to rescue the church all right because I see in scripture it’s teaching that the day of the Lord first is triggered by The Rapture the catching away of the church the the church the Saints in the air to meet the Lord and it says will forever be with the Lord which triggers the start of God’s Wrath identified by the apostasy people leaving what they believed and rejecting Christ and the revealing of the man of sin and then consequently the coming of Christ for the church is followed by an extended period of time in which God releases all his judgments within that tribulation period And so God’s children the church in whom he loves will be caught up to himself before the seven-year tribulation I believe that’s what the Bible teaches and then he Christ will come the second time at the end of the tribulation that’s the second coming and what will he come with he’ll come with his mighty angels and with his Saints who’s that that’s us that’s the church and what are we going to do we’re going to come back and we’re going to rule on this Earth with Christ for a thousand years while the Lord does his work see that’s God’s plan and I believe that’s what he does to his church that he loves now getting back back to Revelation the next thing we see is Christ’s counsel to the church verse number 11 it says of course this is a promise of the soon coming with one command it says I’m coming quickly verse number 11 hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown in other words the command is for us to remain ready to remain faithful to remain committed can you do that can we do that until Christ comes until he he sets off this next part of his program can we just be remain following him remain faithful remain committed see the Philippians I mean the philadelphians are told to hold fast to what they have until Christ come the Lord’s saying listen hold on I’m coming I’m coming he’s saying here and I’m coming quickly he will take them to a place where no one can take away their crown so in other words to faithful Believers God’s going to give a crown now don’t misunderstand that because the crown is not a symbol of royalty it’s what they call a floral wreath wreath that goes around the head which was placed on the head of the victors of those and like those who finish a race and win and a conquering General who wins a battle he’s has a crown placed on his head and everybody knows when they see that crown that guy won that guy was Victorious I want to be like that guy see the Lord promises the church I’m going to give you that for being faithful but then that’s not done Look What the Lord does the fifth thing is that Christ challenges and Promises this to the church in verse number 12 he says this this is like one concluding challenge to them he says he who overcomes verse number 12 that to he who P perseveres to the end with God’s help because he keeps his word and does not deny his name remember he is the god who is Holy and true and keeps his promises and because he keeps his promises and because you have been a church that honored the Great Commission and honor the name of Jesus Christ I’m going to give you three special promises and they are very special in verse number 12 I’m going to make you a special class of residents look at what it says in verse 12 I will make you may I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he will not go out from it anymore so in other words he the Lord is saying I will make you a permanent resident a pillar in the spiritual temple of God P pillars are strong symbols of strength and stability they make the structure look strong and stable and per perent something you you run to and hide in because the pillars are holding everything together and remember historically earthquakes dispersed these people leaving their home situations unstable so they would have fled to the countryside to establish a more stable residence but David looked forward to a permanent and stable dwelling with the Lord even in when he wrote in the famous psalm 23 surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life and what and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever that’s permanent residence the promise to the Overcomer To the victor is that they will have a secure and prominent place in the temple of the New Jerusalem that all True Believers will enjoy a place in God’s holy presence forever in which all the Saints on Earth one day will be eternally secure with God that’s the first thing he says to them I’m going to give you permanent residence where I am secondly in verse number 12 of he uh Revelation 3 he says this I’m going to give you a special brand of ownership that means that all believers will receive a permanent name tag written with God’s own hand that will include the following information look at our text in verse 12 I will write on him the name of my God so in other words the name tag depicts complete ownership for his bonder servants for his faithful and they are sealed with the Seal of the father and the son and the spirit and it depicts ownership and Security in other words God will protect protect and keep those who bear his name and God’s name written on them an indication of the their Eternal relationship with God I own you I’m going to give you some name tags and nobody can take them away from you I’m going to write them on you I’m going to tattoo them on you nobody can erase them that’s what God’s going to give to his faithful people and then there’s one other thing in verse number 12 he’s going to give them a brand of citizenship do you know you have to be a citizen to get into heaven know we have a whole bunch of things going on in our country today that you don’t have to be a citizen just come in we’ll take you no you got to it’s not going to happen with Heaven you have to be a citizen right and if you enter in through to the kingdom of God through the one who has the key Jesus Christ then not only will he give you permanent residence not only will he brand you with his ownership but he will also brand give you a special brand of citizenship in verse 12 it says I will write on him and the name of the city of my God the New Jerusalem which comes down out of Heaven from my God and my new name that’s what I will do with you that all True Believers will receive a permanent resident tag written with God’s own hand that will include the following information that I just said the name of the city of my God and my new name Revelation just turn quickly to revelation 21:3 because of course this is setting us up for what’s going to happen in the rest of Revelation some of these things in Revelation 21 in verse number three it says and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the Tabernacle of God is among men and he will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them see that’s God’s goal for all of us that there’ll be a new Heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells the New Jerusalem will come down to the new Earth and there will be no more separation between God and man we’ll be one with him we will worship him and it will be a time that can’t even be described by human words that God’s presence in the city is the greatest blessing that we could ever hear with our ears and Ponder with our mind God is not just a visitor there nor are we just visitors we are permanent occupants in the kingdom of God and we are there so God’s people may live in his presence and enjoy him forever and ever and ever don’t you want want that to be you don’t you want that to be you in other words to the Conqueror will be given the assurance that he belongs to God to the New Jerusalem to Christ and that he will everlastingly share in all the blessings and privileges that are given to him by God and what’s the last verse in uh verse number 13 of chapter three this is how he always ends it he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches are you listening are you listening have you put yourself into the equation yet are you the one who entered in through the door of Jesus Christ who has the key to the kingdom or are you trying to work in it work it out on your own what what are you trying to do you got to get ready today Jesus may come for his church tomorrow it looks that way all right we’re talking about global stuff going on here we’re talking about you know uh one world leader One World Currency One World Government we’re we’re seeing that it’s happening everywhere all across Europe and into the United States it’s happening Christ is close do not put off one second of thinking about it if you hear the spirit and the spirit speaking to you respond to the spirit and believe in Jesus today if you haven’t and then go on Faithfully to serve him be ready when he comes be ready and know what the Lord’s asking us to do just to be Fai faithful can you do that it seems easier than it sounds he’s asking us to be faithful so the church who remains faithful to the Savior and the gospel and the Great Commission will be rewarded by God will be rewarded by that’s what you see in this chapter and I pray I see many remnants of things being said here in our church and I don’t want to see that at all get messed up but it takes all of us so it doesn’t get messed up right to be faithful in this part of New Jersey not an easy part of the country but I do know one thing about New Jersey you can go out every day and share the gospel to people who never heard anything you’re talking about matter of fact some people say I never heard anything about Jesus I don’t even know who Jesus is you know that’s amazing so do we have an open door yes do the people in New Jersey need the gospel yes and who’s the one who’s going to give it to them snbc CNN Fox News no we’re going to give him the gospel so let’s be faithful that’s why I’m really thankful about our our moral evangelism that we we set up that table there and get a chance to talk to a bunch of people it just uh it’s just an amazing thing when you get with when you get to share with people the gospel and see what God’s going to do amen let’s pray Lord thank you this morning I pray Lord if there’s anybody here that needs to sit down that we may share the gospel with them so they come to Jesus who has the key of the kingdom and they can believe in him I pray you would do that and Lord I pray also Lord you would keep our church faithful you keep us prayerful you would keep us Lord as your people on the path where we are doing the things you asked us to do we’re holding to your word we’re lifting up your name and Lord all the promises that you say you’re going to give your faithful church that’s going to be ours and so Lord every day as we get up as we go out our door as we get into our day I pray Lord that we would always be mindful that you may come that day and know in our heart to be ready and I pray this