skypair said:
Study Rev 3:10-11 "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. 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." These 2 verses taken together prove the pretrib rapture! In them, Philadelphia is promised to be kept from the testing of the whole earth and everyone in it.
Does the character of the Church of Philadelphia reflect the character of today's Church?
Rev 3:10
10
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.
What is the patience of Christ here? He is patient and longsuffering, not willing that any should perish.
The Church of Philadelphia is doing this. They committed themselves to the spreading of the Gospel. The open door is an indication that Jesus has made it easier for that purpose.
Rev 3:7&8
7And to 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;
8I 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 hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
This door is closing on the Philadelphian Church. Now there is a general falling away and that is the Laodiceans.
Look around you and see the preaching of prosperity. It is rampant. If you preach the suffering of the believer that Paul preached you loose numbers. Members of our Churches argue over carpet color, the color of the nursery. Folks would rather gossip then go to their neighbor and share the gospel. In the work place, Christians are silent for fear of loosing their jobs for the gospel. Public schools are becoming breeding grounds for gang recruitment because Christian students and teachers will not share the gospel for fear of expulsion and job loss. Christians, with means, remove their children from these schools and put them into private schools, instead of taking the responsibility to pressure the politicians, judges etc, to reinstate the teaching of the gospel to these that are being raised in depravity. Depravity of family and depravity of the gospel. This is not the example of a Philadelphian Church it reeks of luke warm water. Hot on Sunday Cold on Monday.
Suffering, persecution will be the only witness that will be left to the Church of the latter days. Just as it was for the Church of Smyrna.
My dear sister Linda,
You have stated that you were Reformed Jew before you were saved. There is going to be a great revival in the very near future of Jewish origins. The falling away of Gentile church membership to worship Antichrist and the persecution of the few remaining Gentile believers that will not bow for a period of 3.5 years (these days will be shortened per Matt 24) will motivate Israel to jealousy. They will come to see Antichrist as not a person of their best interests. They will see his claims of godhood and the suffering of peoples not worshiping him. Those people will be holding out for Christ's coming. Their wounds will remind Israel of their past holocausts. Seeing the wounds of the body of Christ, Israel will repent.
Zechariah 12:10-14
10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
13The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
14All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
This is the last to be saved. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first". Jesus came to the Jew first then to the Gentile by Paul, Gentiles fall away and the gospel of the crucified Savior returns to the Jew for the final revival. The fullness of the Gentile is complete and now is salvation come to Israel.
Now grace is brought to the nation that brought us the Law.
Jew and Gentile are caught up as one body in Christ by grace through faith. Woe unto the inhabitants of the Earth for now comes the Wrath of the Almighty God.
