(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we're in Revelation chapter number three and tonight we're continuing with the messages, the letters that are written to the seven churches which are in Asia. Now as we read these messages in chapters two and three, the thing that we can see that is very much paramount is the fact that the common theme of all the churches in spite of their differences is the fact that they've all gone through tribulation and trials. That's something that we commonly see throughout these churches and that's for a reason. Before I get into that, let me just make a couple introductory statements. As we read these two chapters, there are three factors that we need to keep in mind when we interpret these two chapters, okay? Number one, we have to recognize that there is always an immediate fulfillment of the things that we hear and read about in chapters two and three, okay? What do I mean by that? What I'm saying is, you know, although there's a lot of foreshadowing of things that are going to take place in the end times, ultimately these things did take place in the first century AD in those days. And the reason that's important to know when we're interpreting chapters two and three is because we're going to read scriptures and it's kind of not going to fit the narrative of end times Bible prophecy. We're trying to, you know, kind of put a square shape into a round hole and sometimes it doesn't quite make sense simply for the fact that that's something that was already fulfilled within those churches in the first century AD. You think of, for example, the church at Smyrna that went through 10 days tribulation. Obviously we understand that is symbolic and a foreshadowing of the last 75 days of great tribulation in the end times. However, I believe that literally they went through 10 days of tribulation. You know, there was a literal Antipas who was martyred where Satan dwelleth. There was a literal woman named Jezebel who taught God's servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And you'll see elements like that in all these letters, okay? So we have to realize that when we read this, there is a literal fulfillment of these things taking place in the first century AD, okay? Important to know. The second factor that we need to take into account when interpreting these letters is the fact that we need to make application to ourselves, okay? So when we read this, we see these things taking place 2,000 years ago, we also have to realize, hey, this is applicable to us today. You know, we don't want to just look at what it foreshadows. We don't want to just look at how it was fulfilled in the first century AD. We want to see how it applies to us, okay? And the reason for that is because the Bible tells us that these things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. And the weaknesses that they have are the same weaknesses that we can be susceptible to. The successes that they had and the strengths that they had are strengths that we should try to attain to have, okay? Their example or examples that we should strive to mimic and pattern our ministry after. And so we need to make sure that as we look at this, we understand there's an immediate fulfillment, there's a modern day application today, and then ultimately the most obvious factor is that it is a foreshadowing of end times Bible prophecy, okay? And what I mean by that is that you'll read certain passages, it may not pertain to the first century AD, or it does, but it foreshadows something, not perfectly, because no parable is perfect, you know, but it does foreshadow the things which shall be hereafter in the end times, all right? So we need to take those three factors into account when we read these letters here. And that's exactly what we're going to do tonight. Now chapter three, as I studied chapter three, I came to the conclusion there's a lot of content in this chapter, so much that I'm just going to break it in half, okay? So I'm going to do the first half tonight and I'm going to do the second half on Sunday because there's a lot of things that I'm not going to be able to cover tonight and I can't do this sermon, this chapter justice in one hour, okay? So I'm going to try to cover as much as I possibly can tonight and then Sunday I'm going to go over the rest of the verses that we see here in chapter number three. Now keep in mind, as I mentioned, the paramount theme of both of these chapters, of all seven churches is tribulation, okay? And the reason for that is because chapters two and three work as a preface to give us a preliminary understanding of the great tribulation that will take place one day. It's not by accident or it's not coincidental that he just so happened to write to these seven churches and then all of a sudden chapter four and thereafter has to do with end times Bible prophecy. No, each of these churches have an element that is supposed to prime the pump of our minds to give us a preliminary understanding of end times Bible prophecy and the events that will take place then, okay? And we've already seen some of that in chapter two, right? So with that in mind, let's look at Sardis. Verse number one of chapter number three says, and unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, these things say he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works that thou hast the name that thou livest and are dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I've not found that works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou has received and heard and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief and thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy. Now let's talk about the immediate fulfillment of what we see here in chapter three in the first couple of verses in regards to Sardis. First and foremost, I want you to notice that he says, I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and are dead, okay? Now what is he referring to? This is what I believe he's talking about when it comes to the church at Sardis. Basically the church, the congregation there, they were projecting an image as though they were alive, right? They were projecting an image in regards to their church that they were vibrant, that they were living, they're doing great things for God, but it was self-deception folks. They had a name that they were living, but what was the reality? When they were weighed in the balances, they were found wanting. They were actually dead. They can say that they were living as much as they want, they can say they were as busy as they say that they were, they had all kinds of ministries going on for them, but when Jesus Christ took inventory and examined their works, he said, what? You guys are dead, you're dead. It's like a whited sepulcher full of dead men's bones, beautiful on the outside, have a name that they live, but they're actually dead inside. Now I don't think they're fully dead as of yet in this passage of scripture because of the fact that he says, watch ye therefore and strengthen the things which remain, things which are ready to die. So he's saying, look, you're basically dead, but in actuality, you're just dying. However, if you can just change the course of action, start strengthening the things which remain, you can actually come alive again. Now what do we see here? We see self-deception. How's the name that thou liveth in our dead? What does the Bible tell us about that in James chapter number one? It says, if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he deceiveth himself, right? For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man that beholdeth his natural face in a glass, right? He beholdeth himself, then he goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh unto the perfect law of liberty, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed, right? You know, who is religious among you and brighter not his tongue? He deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain, the Bible says. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Now is it any coincidence that in Revelation chapter two, the remnant that's within Sardis, he says the few names which are in Sardis, they have not defiled their garments. And what does the Bible say in James chapter one? He says, pure religion undefiled before God and the Father is this, that they visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and keep themselves unspotted from the world. So we see that even though there are dead churches, there can still be a remnant within those churches that are sowing, they're visiting the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, they're keeping themselves unspotted from the, they're not defiling their garments, they're keeping themselves unspotted from the world, even though their church is on a decline. Folks, don't we know churches that are declining? Don't we know churches that are dying? Well yeah, but if you were to ask the pastor there, we're alive and well, yeah, you're so living that when Jesus Christ looks at you, he says, no, you're actually dead. You know, you have a name that you're living, you have Baptist on your sign there, you have church on your sign there, but if we were to talk to the members and ask them about their doctrine, see if they're saved, I guarantee you we find unsaved people, lukewarm Christians and reprobates. So yeah, you have a name that you're living, but you're actually dead. And this is the worst position for a church to ever be, to think that they're alive. They're deceiving themselves. Oh no, everything's fine and dandy, you know, the building program and we got all kinds of people coming to church and all these things, they're dead. The rigor mortis has begun to set in. You're dying. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're alive. The auditorium is full. Full of what? Dead men's bones? Full of what? Unsaved people? Full of what? False prophets and teachers and infiltrators? This is not the measure of success, folks. God says, hey, you are actually dead. Now what constitutes death for a Christian and or a church? Well, I believe it's the fact that they're not adding works to their faith, right? What does the prophet, my brother, if a man say he have faith and hath not works, can faith save him? If a brother or sister come to you in their destitute of food and one of you saying to him, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give him not those things which are needful to the body, what does the prophet? Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone, the Bible says. You know what is a dead church? It's a church that says they have faith, but they're not actually working. They can talk the talk, but they're not actually walking the walk. And look, I know churches where, yeah, people come to the so many meeting, but none of the people who come to the so many meeting are actually preaching the gospel. What do you think they're doing? They're track dropping. They volunteer once a week to be a mailman for the church. They volunteer to be a mailman for the church. And look, this is many churches. And we think, oh man, this is how churches are today? No, this is Sardis in the first century AD. They had a name that they were living, but they were actually dead, the Bible says. Why? Because of the fact that they were not adding works to their faith. We're not talking about salvation either, okay? We understand that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works that any man should boast. We're not talking about salvation. We're talking about a church that is pleasing unto the Lord. And in order for us to please God, we need to work. Maintain good works. Titus 3.8, amen? So this church was deceived, okay? And he tells them there, okay, but here's the remedy. Verse two, be watchful, because we're looking at the media fulfillment, okay? Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. So when we add works to our faith, it actually perfects our faith. It completes it. He says, verse three, remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee. Now the question is, what is verse three talking about, okay? When he says watch, I will come on thee as a thief if you don't watch, and you're not going to know what hour I shall come upon thee, well, obviously, there's some elements there dealing with end times Bible prophecy, we would have to be fools not to recognize that. But what is the immediate fulfillment? I believe what he's referring to there is he's telling this church at Sardis, if you don't watch, if you don't walk in the spirit, if you don't start repenting and doing what you're supposed to do, I'm going to judge your church. He said, well, why would you use this type of language? Like the rapture language? Well, because the rapture is closely linked to the judgment of God. It's what brings the wrath of God upon a world, right? And look, anytime you see in the Old Testament, the day of the Lord, which is the rapture, a foreshadowing of the rapture, it was always linked up to God's judgment. And more specifically, he says here, look, I'm going to come on you as a thief because you're not watching. And guess what? You will not know the time of your visitation. How many times have we seen that in Jeremiah? They knew not the time of their visitation, where God will come upon them and just destroy that church. Now, I don't believe it's some supernatural thing where Jesus Christ comes and he just shows himself and he just decimates the church, the building and the people they're in. He does it through different avenues. He removes the hedge of protection from that church. Churches have a hedge of protection about them. We have a hedge of protection about us because there's people out there that hate us. There's people out there who desire our harm, desire for us to die and the worst things to come upon us. And the only thing that's preventing that is God's hand on us. But you know what? Then all types of bad stuff can happen to our church. All types of infiltrators and evils can come upon us as a church if we don't have God's blessing. And what I believe he's saying there, he's saying this, if you don't correct this, I'm going to come on you as a thief and it's going to hit you so hard you won't even know what hit you. Because he says you will not know what hour I will come upon you. He's like, I'm going to smack you so hard you won't even know what hit you. And look, Jesus Christ knows how to hit where it hurts. That's what I believe he's referring to there. So the immediate fulfillment of what we see at the church at Sardis was self-deception. They thought they were living but they were actually dead. He told them to watch, to strengthen the things which remain. And we as a church need to make sure that we apply that to our personal lives as well. Our church, right? That we're constantly strengthening the things which remain. Always working on bettering our soul winning. Always working on bettering the music ministry, bettering us as Christians, as husbands, as wives. We've got to make sure that we strengthen the things which remain. Before we move on to bigger and greater things, we need to make sure that we're strong in the basics. Because things are always ready to die. Things will always atrophy, they'll always decline, they'll deteriorate, they'll just begin to become destroyed if we don't take care of the things which remain. You say, why are we always having all these annual trainings? It's to strengthen the things which remain. We want to hit a reset button, strengthen soul winning, strengthen the ushers ministry, strengthen the music, strengthen everything. Because if we don't, the common road that these ministries take is atrophy, death, decline, decay. We don't want that to happen to our church. So this is why we need to strengthen the things which remain, the things that are ready to die. And what is the foreshadowing of this? Because obviously we see verse number three, and it says there at the latter end, if therefore thou shall not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee. These are expressions that pertain to the rapture. Now let me say this, is that this is not teaching imminency, which there's people that will take this verse and later on we'll look at verse number 10, where they'll try to teach that Jesus Christ, because what is imminency? Imminency basically teaches that Jesus Christ can come at any moment, that the coming of Christ is at hand. He can show up at any moment. This is known as the pre tribulation rapture, which is a false doctrine. Okay. He said, how can it be false? It says, I will come on thee as a thief, thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee. Why does it say that brother Mejia? Well, we have to understand that again, there was an immediate application to an immediate fulfillment of this in the first century AD. And we can't base what we believe dogmatically off of one verse like this. We have to go through the clear scriptures and the clear presentation of what God specifically says in regards to the rapture. Now what's one of the most clearest verses or passages in the Bible about the rapture? First Thessalonians four, right? We which are alive and remain shall be gathered together with them in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the Lord. But you know what the Bible tells us in chapter number five? It tells us, but ye brethren, you know, are not in darkness that that they should overtake you as a thief. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not all escape. You know, but ye brethren are not children of the night. We're not, we're not children of darkness, we're children of the light and of the day, the Bible says. We're going to know these things if we're walking in the light because of the fact that watching is synonymous with being in the spirit. So how do you know that watching is synonymous with being in the spirit? Well think about this. What about in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus Christ was praying, he comes to his disciples and he finds them asleep and he says this, watch and pray. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. The parallel passage in Mark 14, he says this, the spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is weak. You see, the flesh is always asleep, can't wake up, right? Whereas the spirit, do you guys remember on Sunday I preached on the natural, carnal and spiritual man? And I made the point that the spiritual man always wants to do right, right? Always wants to read the Bible, always wants to pray, always wants to win souls. When we decide not to, we're actually quenching the spirit. Well guess what? The spirit is always also watching. It's always praying. But when we decide not to watch, when we decide not to be in the spirit, we're actually spiritually asleep. So yeah, Christians can be asleep, you know? And this really resembles the majority of pre-trib Christians today, right? Because they're asleep. They are asleep at the wheel, they're not watching because they think it's going to be imminent, but at the end of the day, watching is a prerequisite to prepare you for the beginning of sorrows and great tribulation, okay? So this is not talking about imminency. This is referring to the fact that he is going to come upon the world as a thief, okay? You know, because people, they're not ready, they're not saved, right? Now this could also refer to the fact that if a Christian is not watching, for example, if he's not watching, then the events that take place prior to his coming could come upon them as a thief. It can come upon them unawares, if they're not ready. And look, the Bible deals extensively with Christians who are not ready for great tribulation, extensively. You know, and in fact, look at verse 4, it says, They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. You know, the Bible tells us in 1 John 2, 28, And now little children abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. So the Christian who is abiding in Christ, the one who's watching, will not be ashamed at his coming. Who's the one who's going to be ashamed? The one who's not reading his Bible? The one who's not living for God? The one who's not serving? The one who's not living for eternity, serving God? These people will be ashamed at his coming. They're not going to have confidence, yeah, they're saved, but they will not have confidence at his coming. They will be ashamed. So what is the teaching that it's telling us here? Wake up, don't sleep, don't be in the flesh. Walk in the Spirit, that you cannot fulfill the lust of the flesh. To watch is to be in the Spirit, because the Spirit indeed is willing, or as Mark 13 says, is ready. The Spirit is always ready, okay? The Bible says in Ephesians, go to Romans 13 if you would, Romans 13, Ephesians 5, 14 says, Wherefore, he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light, the Bible says. He says, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. He's telling this to Christians. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead. Why is he calling them dead? Because a Christian who is not walking in the Spirit is just dead. They're walking in the old man, they're asleep. Because in the Bible, someone who is, what do they say to people who are dead? They say they're asleep, right? Because that's exactly what they look like. A dead person looks like they're sleeping. That's what he's referring to. In Romans 13, to further prove this, verse 11, it says, In that knowing the time, that now is high time to awake out of sleep. What does it mean when it says high time? In other words, it's like, it's about time. That's what he's saying. He's like, it's about time you wake up. For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Now, he's not referring to the salvation of our souls, he's referring to the salvation of our flesh. Verse 12, The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. Let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy, excuse me, and envy, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. So he's constantly telling us, hey, watch, watch. Go to Mark 13, if you would, Mark 13. So what happens to a Christian if they don't watch? Let's say there's a Christian, doesn't live for God, doesn't go to church, saved. What happens if the tribulation comes in our day? What happens to that Christian? By the way, this can be you. So wake up. And I'm not just talking physically, though that would help as well. I'm talking about you better wake up spiritually. Hey young people, you better wake up. Stop messing around and stop, you know, sitting out there and fornicating and drinking and smoking and just living a worldly life as if, you know, tomorrow we'll die, eat, drink for tomorrow we die. No, tomorrow can come the great tribulation, not great tribulation, but maybe the beginning of sorrows. You know, now's the time, teenagers, to wake up. You're living in the greatest time. Now's not the time to just be lazy on your Bible reading, not go soul winning, not live a holy life. Oh, but I just want to hang out with my friends. You know what? Now's not the time to eat and to drink. Now's the time to watch and pray. Now's the time to turn our pruning hooks into swords and spears. Now's the time of war. Now's the time to watch. Now's the time to pray. Now's the time to take the things of God seriously. Well, yeah, but if I, you know, I'm only, I'm a teenager and if, you know, I'm just going to miss out. Trust me, you'll miss out on a lot more if you're asleep. You'll be ashamed at his coming. And guess what? You're not going to have mommy and daddy with you trying to defend you to Jesus Christ. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. You need to watch and pray. What happens if you don't? The Bible tells us, take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, drunkenness, the cares of this life, so that that day come upon you unawares, for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell upon the whole face of the earth. It says, watch ye therefore and pray that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things. Watch ye therefore and pray. What things is he talking about? Well, how about martyrdom? How about the beginning of sorrows when they start persecuting the Christians and you're the first one to go? Right? Oh no, I want to live. Yeah, so you better start living for God. He that findeth his life shall lose it, whosoever loses his life for my sake, the same shall find it, the Bible says. You know, the Bible says, look, if you're asleep at the wheel, if you are asleep at the wheel and you're not praying these things, you're not going to be counted worthy to escape these things and to stand before the Son of Man. What does it mean to be counted worthy? Well, remember what we read in Revelation chapter 2? These are worthy to walk with me, the ones who have not defiled their garments, the ones who are, you know, the remnant of righteous people at the church at Sardis. I don't know about you, but I want to be counted worthy. If the tribulation so comes in our lifetime, you know, if I have to get martyred, so be it. But you know what? I'd prefer to make it all the way to the end. Oh, glorious day to see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with our own eyes, to escape the sword, to escape the persecution, to escape the trials and the tribulation that will come upon us. Oh, to be able to escape that and be worthy. He says you have to be worthy for this, to escape these things. You know, this is a wake up call, pun intended, for us to take the things of God seriously. Look at Mark 13 verse 33 says, Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know now when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for ye know now when the master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight or at the cock crowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you what? Sleeping. And when I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. So I'm sorry folks, there are people who are going to be sleeping and you know what? We're going to be telling them, Christ is coming, Christ is coming, but they're so overcharged with surfeiting drunkenness and the cares of this life, they won't even be able to pay attention to it. And they're not going to be ready for the second coming. They probably won't even make it to the great tribulation of the last 75 days. They're not going to make it. Because that's something you have to be counted worthy for. I want to be worthy. If it so comes in my lifetime. And hey parents, we need to make our children worthy. We need to train them to be counted worthy because what if it doesn't happen in our lifetime but it happens in their lifetime. So what happens if we're asleep? Well I believe we shall not escape. The Bible tells us that when the four horsemen of the apocalypse come, you have wars, you have famines, you have pestilence, you have death on a massive scale. These four horsemen are given authority over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with hunger and with death and with the beast of the earth. When the fifth seal is opened, he sees under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony in which they held because they were Christians. I want to be counted worthy to escape that but if you're not awake and you're asleep, you will not escape that. But here's another thing. Go to Matthew chapter 24. What is another ramification if we're not awake? Well I believe our house will be divided because, hey dad, what if you're just not taking the things of God serious and you're not training your children? What's going to happen if the beginning of sorrows or even great tribulation can take place within our lifetime? How does that look like? Well look at Matthew 24 verse 42, it says, Watch therefore, for you know now what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would have not suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be also ready for in such an hour as he think not the Son of Man cometh. Now what does that mean? Well think about this. There are symbolic meanings in the Old Testament of people who picture the rapture, going through tribulation and even being raptured. Who's an example of this? Noah, right? Noah's a picture of that because he went through tribulation, built the ark, and he was rescued, he was saved physically speaking before the wrath of God came, which is the flood. But wasn't he able to save all his family? Physically speaking, right? What about Lot though? Lot suffered his house to be broken up. Oh yeah he was saved, yet so was by fire. Oh yeah he got, I mean the angel came and just yanked him out, but what happened? He lost his son-in-law's? He lost his wife? You know his daughters became wicked or whatever? He suffered his house to be broken up. Now he was saved, but you know what happened? He lost a lot. He was saved, yet so was by fire. This is a wake up call to us to watch parents, to watch and prepare. Our lives should be centered around the Bible folks, not around Xbox. I know that's profound, but you know what, if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. Well, I just think they should have fun. Yeah, but you're not going to think that way if the beginning of sorrows begin. You know what you're going to do? You're going to regret the days that you should have taught your children, that you should have exemplified Godliness, that you should have prepared them for tribulation. We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God, the Bible says. Don't suffer your house to be broken up. And look, something worse can come upon us than this. You know the Bible even tells us, this is why the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 10 in regards to the tribulation, that brothers shall deliver up brother, that the children shall deliver up their parents. Why? Because the house is divided. You know why? Don't you read that? You're like, how in the world can a son deliver up his father? How in the world can a daughter deliver up her mother? How in the world can family members just turn on each other like that to be put to death? I'll tell you how, because they weren't watching. They weren't watching, they weren't praying, they weren't teaching the Bible to their children. Christianity was not evident in the household and therefore, just like law, what happens? The house was divided. Can't allow your house to be divided. May your household be centered around the word of God. I'm not saying be weird, okay? I'm not saying you have to be this hyper spiritual person, but you know what? It should be said of you that you love the Lord and you're trying to exemplify that as much as you can to your children. You read the Bible to your children. You make sure that your children are saved. You're making sure they understand the Bible. You're teaching them how to behave in church. You're cultivating a love for God when they're here and when they're home. Oh, my children hate church, then you have you to blame for that, because they live under your roof, okay? And typically that happens when you're one way here, but you're a different way back at home. Don't suffer your house to be divided. It's important that we watch and pray so that we don't suffer these things. This is a wake up call, okay? Now we're going to look at a deeper meaning to this that we see in Philadelphia, and I'll talk about that later on in the sermon. Hang in there, because the end of this sermon is pretty profound, okay? So you know, sleep now, but wake up then if you have to, okay? Awake to righteousness and sin not, okay? For some have not the knowledge of God, and I speak this to your shame, okay? So the interpretation of the foreshadowing is this, is that we shouldn't be asleep, we should be awake, okay? That we should wake up today. Now is high time. High time is basically the same about time, or it's even past time, okay? Teenagers, wake up. Adults, wake up. It's time to just wake up and take things seriously. You say, man, well, now I know, so what should I do? Well, you know what? Don't get all crazy, but you know what? How about just starting to come soul winning with us? How about just starting to read your Bible on a daily basis, you know? How about just applying the sermon when you hear it? How about, you know, just trying to live a godly life right now? God doesn't expect for you to just overload yourself with all these things, but you know what? Baby steps are still good, okay? So he says there, thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Why are they worthy? They were worthy to escape and to even show themselves before the Son of Man at his appearing. That's what it's referring to. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of light, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now let's get into Philadelphia here. Verse number seven says unto 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. 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 has kept my word, and has not denied my name. 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 to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Now let's talk about the immediate fulfillment first and foremost. He tells them that there is an open door in verse number eight. He set before them an open door, that no man can shut, for thou hast a little strength, and has kept my word, and has not denied my name. What is he referring to specifically? Well, anytime you hear about an open door, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Soul winning, an opportunity to preach the gospel, right? Now is there any coincidence that when he opens this door, he then references who? The synagogue of Satan. The Jews. You and your Jewish, you just hate the Jews, don't you? Well you know what? I don't hate all Jews. I just hate those who hate the Lord, right? You shouldn't hate anybody. Well, I do. Okay? So, and here's the thing, look what the Bible says, for great and effectual doors open unto me and what? And there are many adversaries. So anytime there is a door of opportunity that God opens up for us, we can rest assured there's always an enemy on the other side. And hey, coincidentally, what's the enemy here? The synagogue of Satan, which say they're Jews and are not, you know, that do lie. And God's telling them, hey, I'm gonna make them know, I'm gonna make them come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Now I'm not gonna re-preach my sermon from last week, but the reality is the main adversary of the New Testament were the Jews. Obviously we know it's the devil, but you know what? The Bible says they were the children of the devil, so there you go, okay? They're the ones who are the main enemies of the gospel in the New Testament, okay? And this is why he says, look, I've set before thee an open door. No man can shut it. And this can apply to us in this manner is that anytime there's an open door for us, we need to just take it. Just take it. Well, I'm afraid of the adversary, fear not. Just take it, because you know what? He can open it, but if we don't go through that door, he could potentially shut it too. And the worst thing that could ever happen to a Christian for a Christian to feel like is regret, regret of what could have been if I just went through the door, okay? And obviously, as Brother Huyck mentioned, it's an opportunity to preach the gospel. That's the greatest opportunity to expand our influence by going out there preaching the gospel and seeing people saved. This is a great door of opportunity. I think of our church, the way our church started, it was a great opportunity. You know, three years later, how many years is it? Three years, two years? Two and a half? What? We're in our third year. We've seen over 4,000 people saved. Over 4,000 people saved. You know what we call that? A door of opportunity. Now have we faced some adversaries? Yes. Have we had infiltrators? Yes. Have we had skinny jeans, faggoty looking false prophets outside denying the deity of Christ? Yes. Okay? Seven day Anabaptists? You know, why is that? Because of the fact that the gospel is, being able to preach the gospel is an opportunity. It says in Colossians 4, 3, with all praying also for us, go with me if you would to 2 Thessalonians 3. Colossians 4, verse 3 says, with all praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. You know what we want each and every week? We want God to lead us to the place of an open door where people are open to the gospel. That's what we pray. Like God, open the doors, open the hearts. We hope that you can lead us to a city that doesn't feel good when we go to like a city and it's just like, we hit the jackpot here. This is gold. Compton, you're gold. Watts, you're gold. We go to certain places, it's just like, oh, this is a gold mine. What is that? It's an open door that God has provided for us, but we just got to recognize it doesn't come without battles. You know, hey, the promised land for the children of Israel in the Old Testament didn't just come with oversized graves, houses that are already built and vineyards and the like. They came with adversaries. There was battles that they had to fight in order to claim that land. But you know what? Here today, we have much land to be possessed. There's much land to be possessed, but it comes with adversaries. Look at 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 1, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. So we say, hey, pray that we just have liberty with the word of God to go anywhere and preach and see people saved and just be successful, right? But that's not the only thing he prays. He says in verse 2, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith. He says, look, pray that the word of God has free course, but also pray that we're delivered from wicked people. Why? Because when there's an open door and effectual, there's adversaries. Let's look at the next verse. But the Lord is faithful who will establish you and keep you from evil. I want you to remember that phrase. When you study Revelation, you just see end times everywhere. And you kind of begin to see that everything just corresponds one with another and it culminates to what God is dealing with in the book of Revelation, okay? So we see here that they had an open door and for our church, this is how we apply it. You know, pray for me. Pray that I'm able to discern the open doors that come our way, okay? And we also have to recognize when doors are shut. When the opportunity is shut, okay, we need to let it go, okay? Don't try to force something if it's not working out. But if it's clear as day that this is what God wants us to do, this is an open door of opportunity, we need to take it, okay? Now what is the foreshadowing that we see here? Well there's a couple of things. So a few things that they foreshadow is, first of all, Christ's ruling. It foreshadows the last 75 days and it foreshadows the mark of the beast, okay? Now let's talk about the key of David, okay? It says there in verse number 7, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, right, 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, okay? Go with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter number 9, if you would, Isaiah chapter number 9. Now this is a portion of scripture that is quoted from Isaiah chapter 22 and specifically verse 22. Let me read it to you. It says, I'll start in verse 20 of Isaiah 22, you're in Isaiah 9, it says, And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open and none shall shut, he shall shut and none shall open. So this was literally fulfilled when this key was given to this man in order to basically guard Jerusalem. He basically has the key to the city, so to speak. But this is foreshadowing Jesus Christ, because he says he's going to put the key, right, and he's going to lay it upon his shoulder. Now look at Isaiah 9 verse 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. So what do we see here? We see that this is foreshadowing the fact that Jesus Christ is going to rule and reign, right, and he's going to have the government upon his shoulder. Now what key does he have? Well, he has the keys of hell and of death. He has the key to eternal life. He has the key to everything. And in fact, even in the new heaven and the new earth, the gates are always open, they shall never close, for there is no night there, the Bible says. But this also shows us that because he has the keys to death and of hell, it's too late for some people. They will never come back, because once God closes that door, it's closed. Now obviously there's people in hell today where it's just a lost cause, never going to happen. We don't believe in this Catholic doctrine that you can pray them out, okay. If you say a certain amount of hell marries and, you know, they go through purgatory, they can make a way back up there again. That's not, that's false doctrine. But you know what? That door can close for people even who are alive today. It's called in reprobates, where God literally blots out their name out of the book of life even while they're living physically here today. The Bible says that they're twice dead, plucked up by the roots. The Bible says that they've been given over to a reprobate mind. The Bible tells us that God has reserved to them the blackness of darkness forever. They're dead to God. It's as if they've already experienced the second death. This is the door that God closes. But you know, there's still a door that's open to many people today. There's still a door of opportunity for people to get saved. How do we apply that? Well, you know what? There's people that you know, family members that you have, don't give up on them. Don't just label them reprobate. It could be there's still a chance for them to get saved. They can still get saved. And we need to take advantage of that opportunity, that open door that God has set forth for us in order for us to get our family members saved. Okay. Let me skip some things here. All right. Now let's get into the nitty gritty because I only got a certain amount of time, all right. It says in verse number 10. I'm not going to get into the Jews tonight because I already did that last week. If you want to know what I said about that, I believe that they're the Nicolaitans. Okay. This is your DVR right here. Just watch the clip on YouTube. Look at verse number 10. Because I was 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. Now let me just start off by saying this. I'm going to talk about the hour of temptation here, okay. Now this is important because pre-tribbers will use this as a means to prove a so-called pre-tribulation rapture, okay. This is like their strongest verse I guess that they have, but this is a verse that they commonly use to state, well, God's going to keep us from the hour of temptation, okay. And if you've ever talked to a hardcore pre-tribber who actually like somewhat knows the Bible, this might be a verse that they quote because the majority of pre-tribbers don't know anything, okay. Not the majority of them, but some of them, they're really bad when it comes to end times of Bible prophecy. So what is this talking about, okay. Now there's different schools of thought, and this is one thought that I've heard, which is the hour of temptation is referring to the wrath of God, okay. Then he's going to keep us from that hour, excuse me, from that hour because of the fact that hour even in the book of Revelation is always in reference to judgment, destruction, you know Babylon is destroyed in one hour, one hour in heaven before the wrath of God comes, and this is often the correlation they make with that, okay. Now I'm going to tell you why I don't believe either of these. I don't believe that this is referring to the fact that he's going to keep us like he's going to rapture us obviously before the tribulation period, but I also don't believe this is referring to that he's going to take us out before the wrath of God either, though that's going to happen obviously, I don't believe that this is what that's referring to. There's actually a far deeper meaning to this than what I even thought, okay. Because now how do we know that this isn't referring to Jesus Christ rapturing us before the tribulation period, because it says I'll keep thee from the hour of temptation. How do we know that this isn't referring to the rapture? Well number one, because whether you're pre-trib or post-trib, you're going to partake in the rapture no matter what, right. And what are the requirements to be raptured, to be saved, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, right. But here it says because thou hast kept the word of my patience. Well we don't need to keep the word of his patience in order to be raptured, you understand? Because that's what they're saying, they're saying because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, Christ is going to come before we even go through the seven-year tribulation, we don't got to worry about that, we're going to be out of here. Sorry, no you're not. But I also don't believe this is referring to keeping us from the hour of wrath, you know as though we're raptured before the wrath takes place, though obviously that is what the Bible teaches, I'm referring to the specific scripture. Now what is this talking about? Now let me give you a couple things here, let me preface this, okay. So in the Bible you have two words that are commonly used in regards to tribulation, you have tribulation of course and then you have temptation. Now these are two separate words that have different meanings, however one does lead to the other, okay. Because what does temptation mean? It means to be tried, okay. So God can try us, but you know what, also when we go through tribulation that can try us as well, right. When you fall into diverse temptations, when you fall into diverse tribulations, that can be a time of trying, okay. Now he's specifically saying here that there's an hour of temptation though, right. So it's just like yeah, so how do you explain that? Well what is an hour? An hour would be just a short amount of time, right. Just a short amount of time. Even like when you go through great tribulation, you know, except those days were shortened, shall no flesh be saved. Now I believe that this hour of temptation is actually referring to those 75 days, alright. You say ah, you're not very convincing right now. I know, I'm just trying to build it up a little bit, make you doubt me a little bit, okay. Go to Daniel chapter number three, Daniel chapter number three. So keep in mind he says the hour of temptation, hour is just a short amount of time, you know the days should be shortened. So as I mentioned, I believe that this is referring to the last 75 days. Now look, what is it that happens at the end of those 75 days you have the rapture taking place, right. The sixth seal is open, the sun and moon are darkened, you know the stars fall from heaven as a fig tree cast into her untimely figs, you know we're raptured, you have the rapture passage in Revelation chapter number seven, we understand that that leads up to the rapture, the redemptions of our body. But what is it that kicks off those 75 days? What kicks off great tribulation? The abomination of desolation. Or as what Revelation 13 calls it, the image of the beast. So once that image is propped up and the world is commanded to worship that image, at that point the Antichrist will make war with the saints, martyrdom on a large scale, what's known as great tribulation. You have the abomination of desolation being set up, war with the saints that lasts for 75 days but wait, those days are shortened because if it wasn't then no flesh should be saved and then you have the rapture. Now let's look at a story in Daniel chapter number three because we're still talking about the hour, the hour of temptation. Now in Daniel chapter three you have Nebuchadnezzar as full of himself and narcissistic as he can be, makes an image of himself, a golden image of himself. And what does he tell people? You need to worship this image. Look what it says in verse number five, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack, butts, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of music, you fall down. Excuse me, look at verse four, I'm sorry. When in herald cried aloud to you it is commanded, oh people, nations and languages, you know like the kindreds, nations and tongues in Revelation, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack, butts, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. So he says look, when you hear the music play, you need to fall down and worship the image, right? I know this is deep. Look at verse six, and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same what? Hour, be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. So what is the hour symbolic of? Well I believe it's the great tribulation. And he specifically says there, whosoever does not worship it, the same hour shall be cast into the fiery furnace. Now let's continue reading. So what happens? Well everyone's bowing down, they're taking the mark of the beast, they're worshiping the image except for Meshach, Shedrak and Abednego, right? He says in verse number, let's start at verse number 15, now if ye be ready, he's reproving them now, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack, butts, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of music ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well, but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the burning fiery furnace, and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? He's like, if you go through that tribulation, if you go through that furnace, who's going to deliver you? Because this is what they're saying in regards to Revelation chapter three, verse number 10. Well, keep thee from the hour of temptation basically means that you'll never see it. But that's not what that means. Because the word keep means to guard. And what he's telling them, you are going to go through trials, but I will keep you through that trial. You know, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. How about when Jesus prayed for his apostles in John chapter 17, and he said, I would that would not that would not take them out of the world, but that will keep them from the evil. So they're going to stay in the world, I just want you to protect them from the evil. You know, like going through like a furnace and not burn, something like that, right? That's the best example I could come up with. Oh, wait, it's in here. So he's saying who shall deliver you out of my hands? Look at verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. Does anybody see a correlation? He says, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. Let me read you from Mark chapter 13, verse 11, Mark 13, end times Bible prophecy. But when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you shall speak. Neither do you premeditate, but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour. That speak ye for it is not that ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Are we starting to connect the dots here? He's saying, look, we're not careful to answer thee, King Nebuchadnezzar. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is answering for them. And Mark 13 says, in that hour, you know, like the hour of temptation. If so be, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he would deliver us out of thine hand, O king. So what happens? They're thrown into the fiery furnace. He said, well, I don't think that's, you know, symbolic of great tribulations, just a fiery furnace. Yeah. Well, you know, like the Bible tells us in first Peter chapter number one, it tells us the gold that is tried with fire may be found into praise, honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So they're thrown into the fiery furnace. Okay. We're not done yet. Look what it says in verse number 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt. And the form of the fourth is like to the Son of God. Who's that? Who's keeping them from the hour of temptation. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near, we're not done, came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came forth to the midst of the fire and the princes and governors and captains and the king's counselors being gathered together saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed nor the smell of the fire had passed on them. So what does this prove? It proves that someone can be in the fire and not be affected by it. It proves that he can keep us from the hour of temptation. Not rapture us, but guard us while we're in that temptation. Now let's just make another little parallel just for kicks. Notice that when the governors and the counselors say, or that they said, nor was a hair of their head singed. What does Luke 21 tell us? Ye shall be hated of all men for my sake, but there shall not an hair of your head perish. Coincidence? I think not. This is all tied in folks. So the hour of temptation is referring to those last 75 days when symbolically we as God's people who are keeping the word of his patience, God keeps us in the hour of that temptation. I don't believe it's a literal hour, but hey, is it any coincidence that Jesus Christ said that the Holy Spirit will give us in that hour? Is it any coincidence that they were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace in that hour? I don't think so. I think what this is referring to, just like what we see in Revelation chapter 2, the 10 days of tribulation marks those 75 days in like manner. The one hour is symbolic of those 75 days as well. And we see the pictures of that in here in the Bible. Now, and by the way, keep in mind, what did Jesus say when he was in the garden of Gethsemane? He says, and he cometh unto his disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto them, Peter, could you not watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray the answer not into temptation. I mean, this is deep. I got a nosebleed from just studying this, okay? I'm just kidding. I didn't really get a nosebleed. Go to 2 Peter chapter number two, if you would. 2 Peter chapter number two, 2 Peter chapter number two. So what is the application to us? Hey, we need to make sure that we're strong in the word of God. We're strong in the Bible, okay? Now look what it says in 2 Peter 2 verse six. This ties into the fact that the spirit is always watching. The inward man, the new man is always watching. Look what it says in verse six. And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly and deliver just lot, begs with the filthy conversation of the wicked, for that righteous man dwelling among them and seeing and hearing begs this righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished, okay? So obviously we understand that law was not a righteous man as far as this conversation was concerned, but he was righteous inwardly. He was saved. And the saved man is godly, right? And what it's telling us here is that God can deliver the godly out of those temptations and reserve judgment because of the fact that the coming of the Lord is attached to the judgment of God as well, reserve the unrighteous for that day of judgment. Now go back to Revelation chapter number three. Revelation chapter three. Now I believe that we're gonna go through, you know, those last 75 days, not us particularly, obviously it could happen a different time, I'm saying Christians in general. And I believe it based upon clear teachings of the Bible. But it's always fun to find something like that, is it not? It's always fun to kind of tie everything in from Luke 21, Mark 13, from Daniel chapter three, the wording that's being used, because it reinforces what we already believe. It's like, man, pre-tribulation rapture sucks. You guys got nothing. We not only got the Bible, I mean the Bible is just deep on this subject, even to the point where there's foreshadowing in the Old Testament in regards to this. Now the question is, why is it that he's also trying all them that dwell upon the earth? Because he says, because I was kept a 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. I'll tell you why. Because the abomination of desolation also kicks off the mark of the beast. And it's not only Christians that will be tempted to take the mark of the beast, you know, because their hunger or whatever it may be, unsaved people, unsaved people who may not even have a dog in the fight, because they're hungry, they're going to be tempted to take that as well. But you know, there's truthers out there who are not saved, who understand there's a mark of the beast, and they're going to be tempted to give in. So this is going to try them as well, because once they take that mark, it's game over for them. Reprobate. You can no longer, that door shut. You've sealed, just as the Holy Spirit of God is sealed within us until the day of redemption, that mark of the beast is sealed within your hand until the day of damnation. That's how it works. So this is a trying time, yes, for Christians, because Christians will be martyred, but it's also trying for the whole world because of the fact that this affects everyone. And the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 13, and he had power to give life into the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. This is a trying time for them as well. And so I'm going to finish there, because I'm completely out of time, and I'm going to finish up Revelation chapter 3 on Sunday, okay, with Laodicea. You don't want to miss Laodicea. It gets deeper, okay? It gets deeper. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and I pray, God, that you'd help us, Lord, to keep the word of your patience. This is inspiring. This motivates me. I love my children, Lord, and I cringe at the thought that I can pass away before training them in the ways of the Lord. And I pray, God, that you'd help me, Lord. Help us to make the Bible the focal point of our lives, that they would hear it come out of our mouths, that they would hear us talk about salvation and the gospel and the word of God, Lord, because we want to be ready for these things. And you haven't really given us a marker how we can know we're ready, and that's a good thing, because we can just keep attempting and trying and walking in the Spirit, watching and praying, being vigilant, doing all that we can so that we can be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass. Help us to watch and pray. Help us to be ready. And if it so comes in our lifetime, I pray that you would spare us and you would count as worthy to stand before you and see you with our own eyes. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.