When Are We Now?
The first of three studies of The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Paige Ramsey
The Church of Philadelphia – Lesson 10
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The Feeble Church, Loyalty, Revivalism
Revelation 3:7-13 – "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
There are only two churches that received no complaints (condemnations) from our Lord: Smyrna & Philadelphia.
Philadelphia – The Church of Revival and Missions. Though this church actually existed in 95 AD when the Lord dictated
this message, it also represents an age in Church history.
The Church of the Reformation died out in dead Protestantism. History says it is not surprising that both religious knowledge and morals among the people and the clergy remained at the lowest ebb and the church establishment continued to descend and brought the people with it. Lady Mary Wertley wrote in 1710 that there were more atheists among the fine ladies in Europe than there were among the loosest sort of rakes. Licentiousness and infidelity were accepted among the wealthy and
well-to-do.
Though we (especially in America – where many reformers fled from persecution) focus on what happened in the Roman Church in Europe during 1517–1700, we must realize it was only a few of the overall population who were being reformed. They, in turn, turned the Church around, eventually affecting a huge portion of the Christian world, but the Roman Church
remained in their oppressive clergy-powered false-church dogma even to this day, and still remain the largest organization of “Christendom”. Even though many devoutly Christian Puritans settled this country, most of the world lived ungodly lives during this era. The “Enlightenment Period” of science and philosophy only added to the loose morals and lifestyles.
The Church of Philadelphia represents roughly the time period of 1730–1930 (possibly even up until 1945.
Phileo = love, fondness, affection one for another. Also found in the names Philemon & Philippians.
Adelphi = brotherly.
Philadelphia = brotherly love.
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” – speaking as One who is holy – One who is true
Jesus possesses the Key of David:
Is 22:20-22 – ‘Then it shall be in that day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; I will clothe
him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He
shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of
David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and
no one shall open.
Having the key of the house of David, the King of Israel meant three things:
1. He could unlock all the treasure of the palace. Eliakim had the master key to unlock all the doors of the king of
Israel. He could open and no one could shut. Jesus Christ has the key to unlock all the riches and wealth of
the Father’s bank. God has a bank that contains more riches that anyone on this earth can fathom, and Jesus
has the key to it all.
2. He could lock up whatever he desired to lock up so that no one could get to it. By having this all important
key, Eliakim could decide what needed to be kept confined. He also could decide who he allowed to have
access and who could not. He could shut and no one could open. Jesus can shut doors so that we cannot walk
through them. This is a blessing! How many beautifully decorated doors would we be willing and even eager
to march right through if our Lord did not allow it? We would put ourselves and our loved ones in danger if
our Lord did not possess the key to lock those doors shut so that we cannot mess up our lives with worldly
fame and fortune that would ruin our eternal joy. Praise the Lord that He shuts and no one opens!!
3. No one could get to the king without going through Eliakim – because Eliakim has the key to the throne room.
And no one can get to the heavenly Father without going through the resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus,
the Christ. He is the Way – the only Way to eternal life!
Before we go further, let’s look at the events of what we now call “The Great Awakening” as we will be able to better
appreciate what the Lord had to say in this letter.
The Great Awakening
The term “Great Awakening” refers to several periods of revival in America’s Christian history. According to historians and theologians there are three or four distinct waves of increased enthusiasm for Christ occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century. The first Great Awakening in America occurred simultaneously with the same miraculous happening in England, Scotland, Wales, and Germany.
Joseph Tracy, the minister, historian, and preacher who gave this religious phenomenon its name in his influential 1842
book The Great Awakening, saw the First Great Awakening as a precursor to the American Revolution. The evangelical movement of the 1740s played a key role in the development of democratic thought, as well as the belief of the free
press and the belief that information should be shared and completely unbiased and uncontrolled. These concepts ushered in the period of the American Revolution. This contributed to create a demand for religious freedom.
The First Great Awakening (1730-1770)
God used these men to stir up life once again:
William Tennent, a Scots-Irish immigrant, and his four sons, all clergymen of the Presbyterians not only initiated religious revivals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the 1730s but also established a seminary to train clergymen whose fervid, heartfelt preaching would bring sinners to experience evangelical conversion. Originally known as “the Log College,” it is better known today as Princeton University.
Gilbert Tennent, born in 1703 a son of William Tennent, wrestled over salvation in his teens, but was converted in 1723, when he was twenty. Three years later he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and began pastoring a church in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There he met Theodorus Frelinghuysen, a Dutch Reformed minister whose preaching emphasized
holy living and conversion, echoing those of Gilbert’s father. He and Frelinghuysen formed a partnership, often preaching in each other’s churches and traveling throughout New Jersey and nearby colonies. Gilbert was a stirring, enthusiastic preacher, leading many to experience conversion. In 1739 he met George Whitefield, with whom he shared a zeal for revival. Tennent traveled with Whitefield, introducing him to other ministers in the Middle Colonies and helping to make Whitefield’s preaching tour a success. When Whitefield returned to England, Tennent preached for several months in New England. These tours did
much to unite a series of scattered, local revivals into the Great Awakening.
John and Charles Wesley – (brothers) John was born in 1703 and Charles in 1707 to Samuel Wesley and Susanna Annesley) Wesley. They were schooled at home by Susanna until they entered Oxford University. While John was away for two years to help his father, Charles formed a group of young men interested in spiritual growth. John quickly became
a leader in this group that they named Methodists because they followed strict methods of spiritual growth. In 1735 both John and Charles came to America to the colony of Georgia, but two years later, discouraged, they returned to England. Then, on May 24, 1738, in a small meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, John Wesley had an experience in which his "heart was strangely warmed."
Charles began reading Martin Luther's volume on Galatians in 1738, while ill. He wrote in his diary, "I labored, waited, and
prayed to feel 'who loved me, and gave himself for me.'" He shortly found himself convinced, and wrote in his journal, "I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoice in hope of loving Christ."
During his ministry, John travelled 250,000 miles on horseback, averaging 20 miles a day for 40 years. He knew 10 languages, produced 400 books, and preached 40,000 sermons. Throughout his adult life, Charles wrote verse, predominantly hymns for use in Methodist meetings. He produced 56 volumes of hymns in 53 years, producing in his lyrics what brother John called a "distinct and full account of scriptural Christianity."
Jonathan Edwards – born in 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut, to Timothy Edwards, pastor of East Windsor, and Esther (Stoddard) Edwards, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was twelve years old and graduated four years later
(1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the sovereignty of God as taught by the reformed churches. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction." He was meditating on 1 Timothy 1:17, and later remarked, "As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before… I thought with myself, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God, and be rapt up to him in heaven; and be as it were swallowed up in him for ever!"
sovereignty of God and later recognized this as his conversion to Christ. As a student minister in his grandfather’s church, from 1727-1729, his rule was thirteen hours of study a day. When his grandfather died in 1729, he took on the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. “Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals. Jonathan Edwards was a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.”
George Whitefield b. 1714 – In 1732 at age 17, George entered Pembroke College at Oxford. He was gradually drawn into a group called the "Holy Club" where he met John and Charles Wesley. Charles Wesley loaned him the book, The Life of God in the Soul of Man. The reading of this book, after a long and painful struggle which even affected him physically, finally resulted in George's conversion in 1735. He said many years later: "I know the place.... Whenever I go to Oxford, I cannot help running to the spot where Jesus Christ first revealed himself to me and gave me the new birth."
He began his work in England in 1739 when he conducted open airfield meetings and would preach to as many as 20,000 people in an open field with no public address equipment whatsoever. He had a booming voice and could speak and preach to that many people the Word of God.
He was a firm Calvinist in his theology yet unrivaled as an aggressive evangelist. In his preaching ministry he crossed the Atlantic thirteen times and became known as the 'apostle of the British empire.' Though a clergyman of the Church of England, he cooperated with and had a profound impact on people and churches of many traditions, including Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists.
All throughout the New England colonies there was an air of revivalism. It is estimated that the population of all the colonies at that time was about 2,000,000. No less than 50,000 of them came to know the Lord through George Whitefield. He
preached more than 18,000 sermons in his lifetime, an average of 500 a year or ten a week. Fewer than 90 have survived in any form.
God had begun to move!
The Second Great Awakening (1800–1840)
This second great religious revival in American history consisted of several kinds of activity, distinguished by locale and
expression of religious commitment. In New England, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism. In western New York, the spirit of revival encouraged the emergence of new denominations. In the Appalachian region
of Kentucky and Tennessee, the revival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists, and spawned a new form of religious expression -- the camp meeting.
Kentucky, Tennessee & the South – In the Appalachian region, the revival took on characteristics similar to the Great Awakening of the previous century. But here, the center of the revival was the camp meeting… The first camp meeting took place in July 1800 at Gasper River Church in southwestern Kentucky. A much larger one was held at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in August 1801, where between 10,000 and 25,000 people attended, and Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist ministers participated. It was this event that created the organized revival to be the major mode of church expansion for the Methodists and Baptists.
New England – Interdenominational missionary societies sprang up with a goal to evangelize the West. Abolition groups formed to obtain freedom for all Americans. The Society for the Promotion of Temperance began its work – first to inspire people to an individual commitment to abstain from liquor and alcoholic beverages in order to strengthen the families, and later promoting prohibition. The American Bible Society, founded in 1816 dispersed the Bible and Christian literature throughout America. Many other efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill also began.
New York – Charles Gradison Finney, a lawyer from Adams, New York became the key figure for revivals in the “burned-over district” of West New York in the 1820’s & 1830’s. His revivals were characterized by careful planning, showmanship and
advertising.
The Third Great Awakening (1857–1930)
New York – Jeremiah Lanphier began what seemed like an insignificant weekly prayer meeting on September 23, 1857 on Fulton Street in New York City that impacted America.
Lanphier was a 48-year-old businessman who began work as an urban missionary for the North Dutch Reformed Church in July 1857. Two days after Lanphier’s prayer meeting began, the Bank of Pennsylvania failed in Philadelphia, sending shock
waves through America’s financial community. In a few days’ time, enough people were attending Lanphier’s meeting that it began to meet daily. On October 10 [1857] the New York stock market crashed, putting many stockbrokers and clerks out of work, and shutting down businesses everywhere. … Soon the crowds attending the Fulton Street laymen’s gathering overflowed into the nearby John Street Methodist Church. … The financial panic, it seems, was the catalyst that triggered the awakening. Within six months 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in numerous places throughout New York.
In a short time the New York Times reported that the nationally known pastor, Dr. Henry Ward Beecher, was leading 3,000 people in devotions at Burton’s Theater. Once while he was reading Scripture, Beecher was interrupted by singing from an overflow prayer meeting crowd in an adjoining barroom! He then led the group in thanksgiving that such a thing could happen.
Other major cities also developed prayer meetings. The form of worship was always the same: any person might pray, give a
testimony or an exhortation, or lead in singing as he or she “felt led.” Although pastors such as Beecher often attended and lent their enthusiastic support, laypeople provided the leadership.
Little planning was done for the meetings, the chief rules were that a meeting should begin and end punctually, and that no one should speak or pray for very long.
Canada – From June through October 1857, Dr. Walter Palmer and his wife Phoebe conducted camp meetings in Ontario and Quebec with crowds of 5,000 and more.
God used men like Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, A.W. Tozer, Mordechi Ham, and others to bring great revivals across
America well into the 1900’s.
Now that we’ve looked at the Great Awakening, let’s continue with the letter to the Church in Philadelphia in 95 AD.
I know your works – We’ve seen this statement a few times now in our study. Make no mistakes…God knows our works! God knows what we are doing in His church. He will hold us accountable for what we allow in His church and for what we do not allow.
1 Cor. 5:12–6:2 – For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will
judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
See, I have set before you an open door – God opened the door for the Church at Philadelphia to spread the Gospel and
for it to fall on ears that could hear. Only God can do this!
God opened doors during the “Great Awakening” as well: Mission work to China, Africa, South America, and around the
world blossomed during the “Third Awakening”. Gospel Radio and Television programs airing the news of freedom in Christ began in the 1930’s, which exploded an awareness and permeated the world even behind the iron curtain.
NOTE: In 1975, a legislative endeavor was set forth to abolish all gospel preaching on radio and television. Praise the Lord, it did not pass! However, it is being revised today to come up again.
Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will
make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. – It’s strange to find the synagogue of Satan mentioned in the only two churches where God did not find any condemnation! It seems that when the church exists in Satan’s dominion, it becomes pure.
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. – I believe this is in reference to the Great Tribulation period. This introduces a very intriguing question, and one that is highly debated: Will the church go through the Great Tribulation? There are three schools of thought concerning when the bride will be taken out of the world:
Post-Tribulationalists – Pre-Tribulationalists – Mid-Tribulationalists
Those who hold a Post-Tribulational (post = after) view believe the rapture will occur after the Great Tribulation, and therefore, the church will go through the Great Tribulation.
Those who hold a Pre-Tribulational (pre = before) view believe the rapture will occur before the Great Tribulation, and therefore, the church will not go through the Great Tribulation.
Those who hold a Mid-Tribulational (mid = middle) view believe the rapture will occur right in the middle of the Great Tribulation, therefore the church would be on the earth for three and a half years (the first half of the Tribulation)
Reasons for a Pre-Tribulational Rapture (or caught away event)
1. The church is the beloved bride of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Great Tribulation will be the most damnable
time this earth has ever had when God will pour out His judgment. Why would the Lord put His bride through
such a time like that? The Bride has cleansed her garments in the blood of the Lamb! Her sins are already
judged and paid at enormous cost. Why then, would she have to suffer the Great Tribulation?
2. There are types in the Bible such as Enoch who is a type of the church – Enoch was taken away before the
flood – before judgment came. … Noah is a type of the Jewish nation that will go through the Tribulation – yet
preserved to come out safely.
3. 2 Thessalonians 2:6-14 – And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of
the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth
and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of
Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send
them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe
the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the
beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called
you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This scripture obviously is speaking of the antichrist of the Great Tribulation period. “He who now restrains” is none other
than the Holy Spirit who lives within each Believer. “until He is taken out of the way” refers to when the Bride is taken out of the world. Only then can the antichrist be revealed!
Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. – There are five crowns mentioned in the Bible:
1. Incorruptible Crown – 1 Corinthians 9:25 – for Believers who run the race well
2. Crown of Rejoicing – 1 Thessalonians 2:19 – for Believers who see souls saved
3. Crown of Righteousness – 2 Timothy 4:8 – for Believers who love His appearing
4. Crown of Life – James 1:12 – for Believers who endure temptation and love Him
5. Crown of Glory – 1 Peter 5:4 – for faithful pastors
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
– A pillar is used for three things:
1. Strength – to hold up the roof
2. Beauty–they enhance the building! The overcomers will reflect the beauty of Christ
3. Commemoration – custom in Philadelphia was to place a pillar in commemoration of someone who had done a
great deed.
My new name – Revelation 22:4 says that His name will be in our foreheads!