All right, revelation, chapter three. Let’s let’s go there tonight and talk about a church where God doesn’t give them any correction, no correction whatsoever to this church, the Church of Philadelphia. That’s the kind of church I want to be a part of, don’t you? And I’ll say individually that’s not the case. I get corrected a lot from the Lord. I’m glad he corrects me. It means I’m his Son, but it also means I’m not where I should be with the Lord. How many do you all get corrected too? But as a church family, and I believe there’s a key here, I believe there’s some things we can learn from this church. We can apply to our church and our lives individually and overall, be pleasing unto the Lord in the midst of a world of apostasy, those that profess to be saved, profess to be Christians, but are going away from the truth. So let’s pray, and then we’ll get into it. Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, for allowing us to gather back again tonight in Your house and hear the reading and the preaching of Your word. And, Father, I know that in myself there’s nothing. But, Lord, in Your word is life and strength and help. So, Lord, I pray that you would teach us and lead us through Your word tonight. And, Lord, thank you for the songs that have been sung and for the people that have gathered together tonight. Lord, be with those that are sick and at home, and there are many, I pray you’d, watch over them helping to get better soon. And Lord, help us tonight to be found pleasing to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Revelation, chapter three, verse number seven. It says, 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 shuttle and no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. Thou hast the little strength and hast kept my word and hast 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 also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God. In the name of the city of my God, which is new jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God. And I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. This is the last second to last of the letters written to the churches. And I firmly believe that overall, we are in the period of the next letter, the ladysian church age. And this church period has just finished up, I don’t know the end date. Some say you get a lot of different dates and I don’t know that it matters so much. But it was the time period of the great missionary movements. America itself sent out missionaries all over the world. England sent out missionaries. If you were to go over to England now, like Andy did, and Brother Chase has places that used to be thriving with churches, it’s hard to find an open church anymore in England, and America is getting that way. But there was a great revival, great awakenings during this period. And it’s amazing. There was no condemnation. There was nothing that was said. You know, when he said, the Lord said in the other letters, I have somewhat against thee. That’s not said in this letter to the Church of Philadelphia. As far as the background goes, clovis Chapel said this. He said, Work my privilege to go back across the years and attend a service at one of these seven churches. I think I should choose the Church of Philadelphia. Then should I have the further privilege of choosing at just what particular service I should be present? I should select the one at which the pastor read this letter. Now, you got to agree with that. That would be an interesting service to attend. Philadelphia means brotherly love and the names in the Bible means something. But let’s look at verse number seven. As with all the letters, it starts with the author, the head of the church, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. And he addresses the church with characteristics that pertain to the letter. And the theme of the message tonight is when the church views Christ, they succeed, they please the Lord. So Jesus should be the object of our worship and our affection. Though even made few in number, we’re going to see that they were possibly few in number. Think of the great works, just by introduction, three of the great things that were done by people like Del Moodim. How many thousands of souls heard the Gospel through his effort, his preaching and his teaching and others during that time period? It’s just amazing what God did. You know, it was said that after World War II, and some of you may know this, general MacArthur called upon Christians in America to send 5000 missionaries to Japan. Japan was an open country at that point in time. I think as far as our things go, they they’re open to missionaries to come in. I don’t know how that process is. But as far as the people go, they’re not as open to the gospel. They’re very closed. So there was an open opportunity at one time, but that door has seemed to close since then. At one time, China was wide open for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before this communist regime took over, they welcomed missionaries into their country. They were having revival in China. That door has since closed. You and I have seen a door open wide in America. It seems like that door is possibly closing, but let’s do all we can while that door is open. Amen. So God is the one that opens and closes doors and removes obstacles, and I’m getting ahead of myself. But let’s first look these things saith he that is holy, he that is true. He that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutth, and shuttle and no man openeth. I think I love how the way that the Lord addresses the letters. He starts with Himself as the head of the church, and every true church recognizes Jesus Christ as the head of the church. We are under his leadership, under his authority. It’s not like some denominations where there’s a hierarchy. We answer to another church. We even answer to another man. We are together following the Lord as he leads us and directs us. And I know he uses the pastor of the church, but we’re still together following the Lord Jesus Christ. Our headquarters are heaven. So first of all, Christ is holy. We mentioned a little bit about that this morning as a 40 25 refers to him as the Holy One first Peter 222, who did no sin, neither was God found in his mouth, because he is holy. His representatives, which are us, should be holy. We should represent Him who is holy by being holy ourselves. He is true. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life no may come with the Father, but by me. So he’s not on the way and the life, he is truth. There is no false teaching or false anything with the Lord. You and I ought to be true, ought to be genuine. We ought to be real sincere. And I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that our church, no matter how great the numbers are, I believe we have a sincere, genuine church, and I thank the Lord for that. You don’t get that everywhere. What a blessing that is. And that’s that scene in what’s been given, just in the things that we do around the church, and that’s a blessing. But his representatives ought to be true. I ought to be sincere. Yonder, I don’t travel with you throughout the week, but we ought to be the same throughout the week as we are in a church house, too. Amen. All right. Even if we’re at Walmart, right, Brother James? So we got to be the same we talked about that Fort Church. He that hath the Key of David, he that openeth no men shut us and shut us, and no man opened it. Well, a key opens up the Key of David. It represents administrative power. He’s referred to as the Messiah. He will roll and reign on this earth as king of kings and Lord of lords. Now, that has not been delivered unto him yet, and he’s waiting patiently until that time comes. Now, God is sovereign over all. Amen. God the Father is sovereign over all. He can overrule anything any time he chooses, any way he chooses, for whatever reason he chooses to do so. The Lord’s kingdom has not been delivered unto him yet for this earth, but it will be, and we’ll be a part of that. But look at what he says. He says, I can open and no men shut it. And I can shut and no men open. He said, I can remove obstacles even from this little group of people gathered together. I can remove obstacles from them, and they can have a great door of service for me. Remember what the apostle Paul said a great door is open, a great door and effectual is open unto me. So pray for me. Verse number eight. He says, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before the an open door and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name. Skip verse nine for just a minute. Go down to verse ten. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience. And he continues but four things real quick, he says about him. He says, you have a little strength. You’ve kept my word. You haven’t denied my name, and you’ve kept the word of my patience. He knows our works. We’ve discussed that before. He knows our works. Even here at PAX branch, he knows our works. The God of the universe knows what happens here. He said, Thou hast the little strength, little as much with God. That song that we sang tonight followed right along with what Miss Rachel sang. Abraham and 318 men defeated four king’s armies in Genesis. Gideon how amen did he have 300? And defeated the host of Midian. Elijah and God was a majority. Amen. That’s all you need. Just be on God’s side. Elijah and God was a majority against 450 prophets of Baal. And he licked them all, the faithful, on the morning of Pentecost. Remember how many was gathered together in the upper room before it’s? 100 and 2120. But at the end of the day, God had blessed and multiplied. And there were 3000 that were added to the church on that one day. But they started with 120 faithful. So little is much with God. He said. Thou it’s a little strength. I think it’s referring to they. They may have been small, but they they had strength. And that strength came from not denying his name, from keeping his word, being obedient, in other words, being faithful to what God had given them to do. And I appreciate you all being faithful to what God has given us to do, and that’s to, to be a Gospel witness in this world, to encourage one another be faithful to his house. He said, thou it’s a little strength and has kept my word. They were true to the Gospel. They were loyal to the word of God. What? What? Let me keep going and we may come back to that verse, thou hast little strength, thou has kept my word, hast 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. Now, whatever this religious group was locally, we know generally, and it was more than likely judaizers that were trying to come in professing to be Christians and saying, you have to keep the law to be saved. But for us it applies anybody that that is in opposition to the truth, that’s in Jesus Christ. And that could be a whole number of things. But he said those you ever been talked about? You ever been lied about? You ever come across somebody and you’re painted in a different light than what you are? God says, there’s going to come a time of vindication and I’m going to be the one to vindicate you. I’m going to be the one to bring the truth to light. And they will come and see that you are the true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. So there may be in those that have lied about you, but he said, look, there may be your enemies that have opposed you. They say they are Jews, but they’re not. They do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet. They’re not going to worship us, but they’re going to worship God in our presence. We’re going to be with God one day and to know that I have loved Thee, what a precious statement that is in itself to know that I have loved Thee. You remember what Jesus said? He said, There’ll be many in that day that will say to me, lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and thy name cast out devils and wonderful things? He said, Depart from me, for I never knew you. Aren’t you glad that God knows who you are thankful for that God knows who I am? This world may not know. This world may not care that there’s a Pax branch, right. This world may not care that there’s a West Virginia for that matter. But God knows. And God cares. And he knows and we know that he has loved us. And one day, not only would every need bow before our Lord and Savior. But they’ll also see that Jesus has loved us and brought us along with him. And what a blessing that’ll be. So that’ll be the day of our vindication. That’s where our patience lies. We don’t have to take things in our own hands when we’re lying about, when we’re falsely accused. Although it’s tempting, you’d like to just go smack somebody upside the head sometimes. The Lord said he will vindicate when that time comes. So he said, Because I have 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. Here again is a proof text for the rapture of the saints of God. Those that are saved will not be here on this earth when the hour of temptation jacob’s trouble, the tribulation period begins. Because they will be raptured out, they will be taken to be with the Lord in heaven. That’s the hour of temptation which I’ll come upon the world to try. Them that dwell upon the earth. We’re not earth dwellers. Our citizenship is in heaven. We’re members of another country. He said, Behold, I come quickly. You realize this is the third time in three chapters that he has mentioned, I am coming again. That’s a promise. So he says, Hold fast that which thou hast. That no man take thy crown. All right, so let me ask you a question. And what was it that they were to hold fast to? Jesus? Yeah, absolutely. Hold fast that which thou hast. Hold that fast which thou hast. Well, they had the Lord. Look what else he said. They had. He said, Thou hast a little strength. Thou hast kept my word. They had God’s word, said thou and hast not denied my name. They had the name of the Lord. Thou hast also kept the word of my patience. They had the promise of his coming again. They had his word, his name, his promise of coming again. They had a little strength. He said, what you’ve got? You hold fast to it. Listen, you and I, as Bible believers, we hold fast to the word of God, the King James version of the Bible, the perfect, preserved, inspired word of God. I know it’s not in the mainstream, but you know what? Have you seen the mainstream lately? Have you seen the mainstream news lately? If that’s any indication, the mainstream is not always right, and very rarely are they ever right. That’s being a little bit foolish. But God said his word will be forever faithfully preserved. So we stand on God’s word. We have what God has given. We faithfully stand upon it and hold to it. We have his name. We don’t deny his name. Galatian says this. I’m going to turn with me if you want to. Galatians, chapter number six. Let us not be weary and well doing. For in due season we shall reap. If we faint, not. So don’t get weary, don’t faint, don’t quit. So keep on going. You will reap. Listen, I know sometimes it seems to get weary in the journey. It seems like you’re trying to do everything to serve the Lord and no one’s coming along with you. The gospel witness in your family has fallen on deaf ears. The gospel witness at work, who knows what’s going on there? But God is faithful and will reward you for your faithfulness. You just got to keep on being faithful. Notice what he said in verse eleven. He said, Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown. That’s not salvation. Nobody can take your salvation. We talked this morning. Salvation is when the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to your account. Nobody can get to that account. Nobody can take the blood of Jesus away from that account. It’s been applied. It’s there. It’s there to stay. But I can lose my reward if I’m not faithful. I want to be faithful to the end, don’t you? When the Lord returns, I want Him to find me faithful, find me pleasing to Him. And he said he’s coming. He’s bringing his reward with him, I believe he says. And I’m thinking of one thessalonians but I don’t I don’t I don’t know if that’s it or not, but he does say he’s bringing his reward with him. Him that overcometh will, I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. And I’ll write upon him my new name. It’s interesting in this verse that Jesus mentions my God four times. He says, I want to make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And that is somebody that’s unmovable. That’s security. If the Lord says he’s going to make you a pillar, amen. There’s going no more out. And I’ll write upon him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God. You know what he’s saying? He said the Godman the Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator between God the Father and us. He said, I’m going to bring you unto my God. That’s shouting grounds. Somebody might say Amen, because he said, you who are a sinner, but you’re saved by the grace of God. You are reconciled into God, and one day you are going to be brought unto my God the Father. And I’m going to write on you the name of my God that talks about belonging. We belong to him. Someone said that refers to adoption. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if that’s the case or not. But I do know if his name is written on me, I belong to Him. And that’s a blessing. And I know that my home is going to be written in me. And that’s the heavenly Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. He’s in the business of reconciling people to Himself, to God the Father. And the Lord also has a new name and that would be an interesting study and we’re going to hear that new name one of these days and just be an interesting study. We won’t go there tonight. Verse number nine though he says to know that I have loved these. So what was special about this church? You remember that the last church we talked about was Sardis and they had a name that they were living but were dead. Then the contrast that with Philadelphia now, who said that Jesus loved them, there was no warning or there was nothing that he had against them, seemed like the perfect church that you would want to be. And I know this represents a certain church age, church period in history, but like we mentioned before, each of these churches can be seen today. There are churches that have lost their first love, like the church of Ephesus. Those that have a name that they’re living in are dead. Believe there are those that can be. Like, just because we’re living in the layout of seeing church age doesn’t mean that we have to be a layout of seeing church. Amen. We don’t have to be a lukewarm church. We could be on fire for God. Like, I think like these men of God were in the 18 hundreds and they would ad Naram, Jutson, David Livingston, they’d go across the world, across the globe if they had to, to win somebody to the Lord Jesus Christ. David brainerd, what he gave up to serve God, on and on and on. That spirit can still be alive in our church. It may not be in every church. We can have that spirit that we’re going to serve God. What does it take for that to happen? Well, they had the Lord in view. See, if you go back and look at Ephesus in chapter number two, they had a lot of works, but their heart had grown cold. The church here in Philadelphia, he knew their works. He said, you got a little strength. That may mean that they weren’t numerous, that they weren’t very large, but he said, I know your heart in so many words. That’s what he’s saying. He said, I know your motive. Motive matters to the Lord, doesn’t it? Heart matters to him. It’d be one thing if I told my wife I loved her so much that it just kind of become mundane and routine. But when she knows that I mean it from my heart, it makes a world of difference, don’t it? And we know that to be true with the Lord too. So he said, Be faithful to me, keep me in view when jesus is the object of our love and our worship, we will be found pleasing to Him. A writer, AC gablen, you may have heard of him said this was the faithful remnant. In contrast to Sardis, which had a dead, lifeless spiritless condition. It’s a complete return to the first principles. He said it’s a faithful remnant gathering around his name as there was a faithful remnant in the closing days of the Old Testament. So again, this church period has passed, which means we’re in the last church period. The Lord could come at any moment. I would love to be considered a member of a church like Philadelphia or have the name Pac Springs be associated with that church of Philadelphia. We’ve got a living church that’s looking for the Lord, that’s loving the Lord and that’s serving him. The Lord values the motive and not necessarily the work that’s done. Listen, we ought to do work, but we ought to have the right motive, too. Ought to have the right heart behind the two. The Lord wants our heart first and foremost. I believe as you go through this message, that’s what he’s telling us. He said, I want your heart. Give me thine heart. When I have your heart, then everything else will follow suit. When the Lord has our heart, the world’s distractions, the world’s discouragement it won’t affect us as much. So give me your heart. That’s the first thing. Number two, they may have been a despised company, but they cherished the Word of God. May have been small in number, but they valued the Word of God. Listen, let’s be a people that value and spend time in God’s word. Amen. If nobody else will stand for the Word of God, let’s stand on the Word of God. Let’s stand where God calls it sin, let’s stand on that. Let’s call it sin. Where God says, this is the only way to be saved, let’s stand on that. Where God says, forgive one another, let’s stand on that. Let’s forgive one another. So they cherished the word of God. They held fast his name. They were reminded of the reward that was coming. You and I, we’re not going to wear our crowns around heaven just to brag about it. What we’ll more than likely do is cast our crowns at his feet and say lord, you deserve everything that you’ve given to us. But listen, I want to have something to be able to give back. Don’t you? After all that he’s done for me. And listen, we see through a glass darkly. We can sit here and see through the eye of faith what God has done for us. But when it’s all made plain and all revealed, when we know some people here close to us that are going to be passing over in the glory soon when their eyes, their spiritual eyes are open and they see what you and I can’t see on this side of things. They’re going to realize what you and I will realize when we get there, boy, how much God has loved us. So why not take the time now to live by faith? Amen. To lay hold on that that’s set before us, to hold it fast. What’s been given to us, the church will prosper who has a vision of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is holy. We must be holy. He is true. We ought to be true and genuine. Hope nobody thinks of you as untrue, as a liar or as a cheat or anything like that. That would be a bad testimony for the Lord. He has the key of David. The Bible says that the true authority rests with Him. So let us not fear man, but walk this pathway of life, trusting Him and looking to Him. Amen. He said, he hath in the ear. Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. I firmly believe, as I mentioned, that just because this was in the church period that’s gone by, doesn’t mean that we can’t still have that today. It’s not going to be worldwide. You’re not going to find it in the ecumenical movement, the global alliance of Churches or whatever it is. But I would love to find it here locally at PAX France Baptist Church, among God’s people here. Amen. And I believe, of all places in the mountains, the mountain people. Amen. We as country people should be able to recognize and know that we’re nothing apart from God and that God’s done wonderful things. So let’s not lose sight of who Jesus is. Amen. What he’s done for us, what he’s going to do? Let’s not lose our reward. Okay? Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which Thou hast that no man take thy crown. Amen. Let’s stand. Heavenly Father we love you, Lord thank you for your word. Thank you for your message. And Lord, I know that these were simple thoughts tonight and there’s much greater and deeper truths here. But, Lord, I pray that we as a church family, we get a hold of that fact, Lord, to keep you in view. Lord, help us to submit to you, to Your leading Your direction individually and as a church. Help us to follow you and be found faithful. Lord, we believe you’re coming. We believe there’s much to do before that time. So, Lord, help us be faithful and trust you in Jesus name. We pray while Miss Rachel prays. If you need to come and pray. The altar is open.