R1606 A Faithful People

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message on a faithful people. We're headed to Revelation chapter 3 in just a moment, but remember we're available for you right now at the other end of 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673 or www.tewonline.org. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. Revelation chapter 3 is an incredible passage of Scripture. So here's what I want to just lay on the table with you. Many of you have been worshipping with us for many, many weeks. But for those who are perhaps our guests and first-time visitors today, in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to people like me, people like Jenna Cate, because we are believers. We are believers. We trust Jesus. Jesus lives in our hearts. So if you know the Lord Jesus, then Jesus wants you and I to know something very, very important. And he's actually telling us this in the book of Revelation, because in chapter 4, here comes Jesus.

The people all the time, I do the same thing. Say, when is Jesus coming? It could be at any moment. We can look at all those signs and everything, but the bottom line we need to know is that Jesus is coming back. He's going to come in the clouds. And if we're alive, we're going to be caught up into the clouds. If we're already dead, we've already passed away, then we're going to come with Jesus where we are in heaven. So Jesus wanted us to know that just before he comes back, that the number one thing we need to be concerned about is us, the church. So if I was to ask you right now, what are you really concerned about?

What a crazy question, right? Can we start with politics? Unrest? Just start listing the things that we're concerned about. We're living in a very challenging world. There's a lot going on.

We've all got opinions. Jesus said, I'm going to tell you how you know whether I'm about to come back. Let me show you. And he picks out seven churches. We're on the number six. We're in a church at Philadelphia. I'm going to talk about that in a minute. It's great.

And can I get to the bottom line here? Jesus, it's so fantastic because this church is in the middle of their COVID. And all Jesus can say to them is, well done, you're so faithful. They're in the middle of their grief.

They're in the middle of their challenge. And Jesus looks at them and says, well done, you're faithful. So this is about Jesus and what he says to a faithful people. I'm just a little pastor in a little place, but if you don't mind, I want to say that to you. I'm not Jesus, so it doesn't have any meaning. Just as your pastor, I've watched you for over seven months.

You've been faithful. This is for you. So what did Jesus say to the church at Philadelphia? Can I read it for you? So in chapter three and verse seven, to the angel in the church at Philadelphia, right, these are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. When he opens, no one can shut. And when he shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which nobody can shut. I know that you've got little strength, yet you've kept my word and you have not denied my name.

Wow. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews, although they are not, but are liars, I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I, Jesus, have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to happen to the whole world to test those who are on the earth.

By the way, you want to write something? Those who are left behind, who are on the earth. I'm coming soon, Jesus said.

Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown. The one who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will that person leave it, the temple, as a pillar.

I will write on that person the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out from heaven, from God, and I will also write on that person my new name. The one who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church. So here's the question, are we listening? Are you hearing? Are you listening right now? I'm just encouraging, just listen to what Jesus says, that's all I'm going to say, that's what he said, just listen to what Jesus says.

Guys, can we, can we, can you and I just do one thing, just forget the White House right now? Forget these disgraceful debates, the embarrassment of showing the pagans how Americans behave, can we just leave that for a minute? Just hear what the Spirit says to the church.

Let's check our own temperature. And it's interesting, when Jesus spoke to the church at Philadelphia, spoke to them from four perspectives, he does that with each one of the churches. You'll see that with all of them, Sardis and Thyatira and Pergamum and Ephesus and so it goes on. He tells you where he's coming from and he gives us four perspectives here. He speaks to them first of all from his sovereign holiness, he said it right there. I've got to go back to chapter three, he said these are the words of the one who is holy. So Jesus wants the people at Philadelphia to know that he's speaking to them, please, please hear this word, this is not despicable, from the perch, from the level of his holiness. So how high is the holiness of God?

Can you get any higher than that? Any purer? More magnificent. God said I'm speaking to you out of the absoluteness of my sovereign holiness. Secondly, I'm speaking to you from my genuine truthfulness, holy and true.

I want you to know people, church people, I'm saying this to you as truth, that's a word for us. By the way let me just ask you something, what is truth? How do you and I evaluate that?

You can take any of the big subjects that are out there and the things that are important, what can I pick on? Abortion, you know, the matter of life. So someone this week sent me a long article written by somebody giving the perspective that, you know, abortion is really not that bad if you think through it.

If you really think through it. I mean what about the mother? What about the mother? So what we deal with all the time, we get immediately taken and put into correct emotions. That's, you're right, because by the way mothers bear children.

So her body and her life is part of this issue in every way. So how do you find truth as a believer? God, he's truth. So here's my question, what does God say about life? That's the only question as a believer we can ask, what does God say? Now you want me to suggest we're going to hear a few opinions?

You got an opinion? What does God say? This is what Jesus is saying to the church at Philadelphia, that's why he establishes that. And he's doing it on purpose because these people found themselves in the middle of their big challenge. They were like this group of Christians who lived in this town, they were believers and they were surrounded by people who didn't believe. Their kids went to school and did everything at school, but they were surrounded by a lot of other kids who don't value God's holiness or his truthfulness.

It doesn't matter, in fact many don't consider it. Third, he says, I'm speaking to you from my divine access. By the way, did you see that little word there? It's an interesting one, he says, the one who holds the key of David.

If you want to really get to grips with that, as a reference, a lot of you take notes. Go to Isaiah 22 and verse 20, that passage there. And the Bible tells us there about the high priest who's given the key of David. By the way, many of you have been with me to Israel and I see a lot of you today, we love it, I've got trips planned, we're going family trips, all that, God willing.

We're on, we're on. Anytime you go to Israel, almost from the moment you land, you'll start hearing David, David, David, the city of David, King David, the Davidic Lion. Why? Because David, King David, was considered to be the highest authority. He was the ultimate access. Jesus was born of the Lion and the lineage of David. To the Jews, when you said, Jesus said to the Jews, I've got the key of David, what Jesus was saying, excuse me, there's no higher authority.

I'm the only one that can give access into the throne room because I am the throne. And then number four, he speaks to them from the perspective of his final absoluteness. I put those two words, final absoluteness. He said, I open and I shut. When COVID hit us back in February and we knew we had to close, I'm just telling you, I found myself on my face before God saying, Lord, would you show me, would you open, would you close?

Where else do you go? That's his final absoluteness. Please forgive the interruption, but as we hear from Doc talk about these times that we have been in, what a 2020, 2021 transition we're in right now, perhaps now more than ever. You need to know you're not alone. God has built you for the sense of community that we can have, though it's difficult in the electronic separation.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is hear someone's voice praying for you. I hope you'll jot this number down, 866-899-9673. That's our phone number, 866-899-WORD is a way to remember it. You'll find it on our website as well at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. It's our desire to encourage you, not just in this half hour of teaching, but in every way possible. You'll find opportunities to have your day started with a wonderful email from Dr. Don. You can sign up for that on our website as well at www.tewonline.org and so much more.

Again, it's online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's teaching. You know, the final absoluteness of God means you go to Him and He sees. So Jesus is looking at these people in Philadelphia and He sees them. What's so interesting about Philadelphia?

By the way, we love the name Philadelphia and we associate with our Philadelphia the city of brotherly love, right? But do any of you know where that comes from? Where's the origin?

Well, I'll tell you. You've got to go all the way back to 197 BC. BC stands for Before Christ. So this is a few years back now, okay?

So if you're on one of these shows and you win $100,000, $50,000 comes to me because I'm the one that told you the answer here. 197 BC. And the emperor who established the town, the city of Philadelphia, loved his brother and he named it out of love for his brother.

Simple as that. 197 BC. Just lock in 200 BC and you got it. And Philadelphia was an interesting place, like many of the other places there got slam dunked by the earthquake of AD 17.

Even because of that, they began to develop allegiances to the Roman Empire. So they even changed the name Philadelphia a couple of times to the name of the emperor, like Flavius. It became known as Flavius. What a lousy name.

I would never tell anybody. They were born and raised in Flavius. They called it Flavius. They got over it, but they were trying to win the favour of government. They were going to do anything to get in the good books of the pagans and the Roman government was a pagan government. They worshipped gods and sacrificed to idols and everything else. Essentially, by the way, Philadelphia, I'm trying to summarise all the stuff that's in my head here, was essentially a centre of Greek learning and culture. So it was really a very, you and I would call it like a university centre, great minds, great intellects and they started to export this and they started to spread an understanding of brands of the Greek language. I mean, they were sharp people and in the midst of all of this, there was a group of people and Jesus looks at them and he commends them for a number of things, all having to do with being faithful.

Let me just list them for you, okay? So what did he commend them for? The first one, which is fantastic, he commends them for their little power, for their lack of strength.

What a weird kind of well done. You don't have any strength. What was he saying to them? He was saying, I'm commending you because you've got no strength.

He wasn't talking about this kind of strength, which you can obviously see in my incredible arms. He was talking about the fact that they were a few people who loved the Lord that lived in this surrounded pagan world. By the way, do you find it easy to be a Christian? You know, most of us go to restaurants and we battle even to say the blessing because we're conscious of people looking at us. Would you be willing to admit that? Most of us lose our car keys, like, would you bless it? Oh, okay. You know, when you go to that restaurant next week, watch Christians peeping.

They do this. Because we know people are saying, can you imagine they're saying grace? And we become intimidated by that.

Can you feel that with Philadelphia here? Okay, go and have a look at what Jesus said. I'm commanding you for your, because you've got little strength.

I like that. He commanded them. He commanded them because they had major obedience. That's what the Bible tells us right there. It says, yet you have, yet you have. Yet you have, you've got little strength, yet you have kept my word. Their major obedience.

He commanded them because they were totally surrounded. He said, you're living in the middle of the synagogue of Satan. You've got a bunch of people there who actually claim to be God-fearers, but they're not really. Kind of like, sounds like America, doesn't it?

I've often wondered in the average American town if we were to take a survey of how many people claimed to be Christian and then match that against their action and their behavior in line with Christ. See, Jesus was looking at Philadelphia. He said, I commend you. You had little power. I commend you for your major obedience. I commend you for your power, I commend you for your major obedience.

I commend you, you're totally surrounded. I commend you because you show steadfast allegiance. You've never denied my name.

That's you. I'm telling you guys, you've been faithful in the midst of their circumstance. They never denied the name of Jesus. I'm telling you, there'll be some times when you'll be put up to it. You're going to have to take a stand for the name of Jesus and they're going to come after you. We live in a world today, Jesus, are you kidding me?

It's a cuss word, man. Anyone seen a movie lately that doesn't use Jesus' name as a blasphemy? I watched a movie with my son and daughter-in-law and Karen on Friday night in Atlanta. I mean, just a great story, man. Just a wonderful story.

Guess what? Not even rated PG. Jesus Christ has to come into it. And I'm going to tell you, Jesus Christ has to come into it. And by the way, not worshiping him either. It's got to be there, it's got to be there.

Got to let you know. And he's saying, well done, you didn't deny my name. He congratulates them because of their patient endurance. So he just says, thank you for being faithful and then he says, here's what I'm going to do for you. So here's the promise of Jesus.

He just, he puts it out. He said, first of all, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to turn the tables. You're in the middle, you're being persecuted.

The very people that persecute you are going to recognize how much I love you. Bible says that the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. I'm going to give you total safety, total safety during the tribulation. He says, I'm going to keep you from the hour of trial.

You want to know what that is? Start reading in chapter four. I've had so many of you say to me, Doc, please keep going, man. Tell us about the end times. It's unbelievably fascinating.

It's what the Bible says. Maybe one of these days I just got to do it. Take a little shorter period of time, but if I do that, guys, you've got to at least give me three months. You know, I have done that in our church, but it took me nine years on a Sunday night.

Big subject. If you eventually say, well, we can stay. Everybody says, man, today's generation, don't do more than four or five at a time because they'll all leave.

I don't believe that, actually. What was Jesus saying here in the midst of all of this? Say, I'm going to turn the tables. I'm going to give you total safety.

He said, I'm going to give you a permanent position. You see that little word, pillar? I'm going to make you a pillar in the temple.

You know why they understood the permanency of that? It's like we do. You can go all over Europe today in the pillars of temple. You can go all over Europe today in the pillars of temple.

You can go all over Europe today in the pillars of temples are still standing everywhere. Everywhere. Come with me to Athens. Go to the seventh church. Go to Ephesus.

Go to Israel. All over the place. What was the first thing ISIS wanted to do when ISIS took control?

Anybody know? What did they do? They built pillars. Are you connecting the dots here, guys?

Signs of the times. Jesus said, I'm going to make you a pillar in the temple. He said, I'm going to give you eternal security. He said, you'll never leave.

Got you in my hand. That's what he says. And he says, I'm going to make everything new.

What does he mean by that? The ownership God talks about. I'm going to give you a new city. Brand new city, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is going to come down out of heaven to this earth because heaven, where is heaven going to be? Eternal heaven. On earth. Go to Revelation chapter 21. Jesus said from now on, I make my dwelling place on earth. You ever use the phrase heaven on earth? By the way, where was the Garden of Eden?

Anyone know? Was it in heaven? Was it up there?

Where was it? Well, what is the new creation? God's earth. Perfect. Now, I can't get that one around my head. You're going to have a new city. You're going to have a new name. He said, you're going to have my name. You're going to see me as I am.

A new name written down in glory. Do you know Jesus? What a powerful question to close today's broadcast with Dr. Don Wilton. Whether you're listening as a podcast, on the air, wherever you might be on our website, I pray that more than just hearing Dr. Don teach, you've heard the call of God and that challenge of knowing Jesus.

Before we get away, closing thoughts from Dr. Don Wilton. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin, and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If God has spoken to you, perhaps in your heart just then, you prayed to receive Jesus Christ, or you know that you're so close you just have a few questions, let's talk. Call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to answer your questions, connect you with resources, and speaking of resources, you can find them on our new website. We are excited to announce that we have a new updated website. On our new website, you can find current and past broadcasts, order the current monthly offer, post prayer requests or praise reports, sign up for the daily encouraging word, see our current broadcast schedule, and donate to the encouraging word. Find us at www.tewonline.org. Our time's gone for today, but tomorrow I hope you'll join us for The Church with a Door. Now that sounds a little odd, that's his topic, The Church with a Door, but you know doors can be openings to fresh new beginnings, and again I pray you'll join us and bring a friend tomorrow as we share more of God's encouraging word with Dr. Don Wilson. Between now and then, you can connect online at www.tewonline.org, hear today's message or share it with a friend, or know that we're available for prayer at 866-899-9673.