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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 12

TITLE: PRECIOUS PROMISES TO A FAITHFUL CHURCH

TEXT: REVELATION 3:10-13

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE GREEK WORD FOR PROMISE IN THE N.T. IS THE WORD EP-ANG-EL-ER-AH.

* I BRING THAT UP BECAUSE IN THIS WORD IS CONTAINED THE ROOT WORD FOR ANGEL WHICH MEANS TO “PROCLAIM”, “ANNOUNCE” OR “DECLARE”.

** NOW CONNECTING THOSE IDEAS, A PROMISE IS A PUBLIC DECLARATION WHICH MUST COME TRUE IN ORDER TO BE BELIEVED.

*** NOW IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THERE ARE AROUND 8000 PROMISES IN THE BIBLE.

**** AND FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION, GOD HAS ALWAYS STOOD TRUE TO HIS WORD, HE CANNOT BREAK A PROMISE.

(2) II CORINTHIANS 1:20 SAYS: “FOR AS MANY AS ARE THE PROMISES OF GOD, IN HIM THEY ARE YES; THEREFORE ALSO THROUGH HIM IS OUR AMEN TO THE GLORY OF GOD THROUGH US.”

* NOW PAUL IS SAYING HERE THAT THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE ABSOLUTELY DEPENDABLE.

** GOD HAS NEVER DEFAULTED ON A PROMISE AND HE NEVER WILL BECAUSE GOD CANNOT LIE, READ TITUS 1:2.

*** AND THAT GOD CANNOT LIE IS SELF-EVIDENT AS WELL AS SCRIPTURALLY CONFIRMED OR ATTESTED.

**** THE PROPHET SAMUEL REMINDED THE DISOBEDIENT KING SAUL THAT GOD, “THE GLORY OF ISRAEL WILL NOT LIE” IN I SAMUEL 15:29.

(3) AND BECAUSE GOD IS THE SOURCE AND MEASURE OF ALL TRUTH, IT IS, BY DEFINITION, “IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LIE” IN HEBREWS 6:18.

* AND JUST AS “WHENEVER THE DEVIL SPEAKS A LIE, HE SPEAKS FROM HIS OWN NATURE; FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF LIES” IN JOHN 8:44.

** SO IT IS THAT, WHENEVER GOD SPEAKS THE TRUTH, HE SPEAKS FROM HIS OWN NATURE, BECAUSE HE IS TRUTH AND THE FATHER OF TRUTH.

*** AND IF GOD LIED THE UNIVERSE WOULD DISINTEGRATE, BECAUSE THE GOD WHO HOLDS EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND MAKES EVERYTHING FUNCTION WOULD CEASE TO EXIST. HE COULD NO LONGER BE HOLY GOD.

**** SO GOD CANNOT LIE, IT’S AN IMPOSSIBILITY, SO ALL OF HIS PROMISES ARE TRUE, THEREFORE YOU CAN STAND UPON THE PROMISES OF GOD.

(4) WHICH REMINDS ME OF THE HUMOROUS LITTLE STORY OF THE MOTHER WHO CAME TO INVESTIGATE HER SON’S UNCHARACTERISTIC SILENCE WHILE HE WAS IN THEIR BEDROOM ONE DAY.

* UPON ENTERING THE BEDROOM SHE FOUND HER SON STANDING ON HIS FATHER’S BLACK BIBLE.

** SHE RESPONDED IN HORROR, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

*** TO WHICH HER SON REPLIED, “MOM, I’M STANDING ON THE PROMISES.”

*** WELL, WE ARE TO STAND ON THE PROMISES, BUT DOING IT THAT WAY MIGHT WEAR OUT YOUR BIBLE A LITTLE MORE QUICKLY.

**** BUT SERIOUSLY, STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF GOD IS AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE FOR US TO APPLY.

(5) AND DOING THAT WILL GIVE US PEACE IN THE TIME OF STORM AND WILL BE AN ANCHOR TO OUR SOULS IN DAILY TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS.

* NOW YOU MIGHT BE THINKING, RAY, THAT’S ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE FAITHFUL CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA IN OUR TEXT?

** WELL, IN THE REST OF THIS LETTER TO THIS CHURCH FROM VV. 10-13 WHICH WE’LL BE STUDYING TODAY, OUR LORD MAKES 3 PROMISES TO THIS CHURCH AND TO ALL FAITHFUL BELIEVERS WHO COMPRISE THE CHURCH TO THIS DAY.

*** AND THESE PROMISES WOULD GIVE THEM AND WILL GIVE US HOPE THAT HELPS AND PEACE AND SECURITY IN THE TIME OF STORM.

**** BECAUSE OF THAT, I’VE TITLED THE MESSAGE TODAY, “PRECIOUS PROMISES TO A FAITHFUL CHURCH.”

(6) AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT THREE PROMISES AS OUR OUTLINE TODAY. AND TO BEGIN WITH, LOOK AT V. 10 WHERE WE’LL SEE PROMISE #1 PLEASE.

I. PROMISE #1, (READ V. 10)

A. NOW BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITHFULNESS, THE BELIEVERS IN PHILADELPHIA ARE PROMISED THAT THEY WILL BE KEPT FROM THE HOUR OF TRIAL WHICH WILL COME UPON THE EARTH.

* IN OTHER WORDS, BECAUSE OF THEIR PAST ENDURANCE CHRIST GIVES THEM A SPECIAL PROMISE.

** BECAUSE THE BELIEVERS IN PHILADELPHIA HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PASSED SO MANY TESTS, JESUS PROMISED TO SPARE THEM FROM THE ULTIMATE TEST.

** THEY KEPT THE WORD OF CHRIST’S PERSEVERANCE, LIT. THEY KEPT CHRIST’S COMMAND TO PRESERVE, TO ENDURE PATIENTLY, TO BE STEADFAST.

*** AND THE IDEA OF THIS GREEK WORD TRANSLATED PERSEVERANCE, PATIENCE OR PERSEVERE, DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE, IS NOT TO BE SWERVED FROM OUR DELIBERATE PURPOSE AND OUR LOYALTY TO THE FAITH BY EVEN THE GREATEST TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS.

**** AND BECAUSE THESE BELIEVERS AT PHILADELPHIA DID THAT, CHRIST PROMISES TO KEEP THEM FROM THE MOST SEVERE TRIAL OF ALL.

1. CHRIST SAID I WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE HOUR OF TESTING, OR THE HOUR OF TRIAL. THE WORD HOUR MEANING A DEFINITE TIME, A POINT OF TIME, A SEASON OF TIME, A PERIOD OF TIME.

* NOW THE COMBINATION OF THE VERB KEEP WITH THE PREPOSITION FROM, EK IN THE GREEK, OUT FROM OR AWAY FROM COMMUNICATE THAT THOSE FAITHFUL BELIEVERS WOULD BE KEPT OUT OF THIS PERIOD OF TIME.

** AND HAD THE LORD INTENDED TO CONVEY THAT THE CHURCH WOULD BE PRESERVED IN THE MIDST OF THIS TIME OF TRIAL OR TRIBULATION, THE PREPOSITIONS EN – IN OR DIA – THROUGH WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE APPROPRIATE.

*** AND I BRING THAT UP BECAUSE SOME OF YOU HAVE DONE SOME STUDYING OF THIS TEXT AND YOU KNOW WHERE I’M GOING, I’M NOT TRYING TO BE OVERLY TECHNICAL.

**** BUT THE VERB KEEP AND THE PREPOSITION EK IMPLIES: CONTINUOUS EXISTENCE OUTSIDE NOT AN EXISTENCE WITHIN OR A VIEW TO CONTINUING IN.

2. NOW FROM WHAT WILL THESE BELIEVERS BE TAKEN OUT OF, KEPT FROM, TAKEN OUT OF?

* WELL, THE HOUR, A PERIOD OF TIME THAT IS GOING TO COME UPON THE WHOLE WORLD, LIT. THE INHABITED EARTH. THIS IS NOT A LOCAL TIME OF TRIALS OR TRIBULATION LIMITED TO PALESTINE OR THE ROMAN EMPIRE BUT UPON THE WHOLE EARTH, THE WHOLE WORLD.

** NOW THIS HOUR OF TRIAL OR TRIBULATION WILL TEST THOSE WHO DWELL UPON THE EARTH.

*** AND THIS PHRASE, “THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH IS A TECHNICAL TIME USED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION TO TALK ABOUT UNBELIEVERS, THOSE WHO ARE AT HOME ON THE EARTH, WHO BELONG TO THE EARTH AND NOT HEAVEN, THE BODY OF UNBELIEVERS.

**** LET ME ILLUSTRATE FROM REVELATION. IN REVELATION 6:10 IT SAYS OF THOSE WHO DIE UNDER THE FIFTH SEAL IN THE TRIBULATION THAT OBVIOUSLY COME TO FAITH DURING THIS TERRIBLE TIME: “AND THEY CRIED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, SAYING, ‘HOW LONG, O LORD, HOLY AND TRUE, WILL YOU REFRAIN FROM JUDGING AND AVENGING OUR BLOOD ON THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH?’”

3. IN REVELATION 8:13 IT SAYS: “THEN I LOOKED, AND I HEARD AN EAGLE FLYING IN MIDHEAVEN, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, ‘WOE, WOE, WOE TO THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH, BECAUSE OF THE REMAINING BLASTS OF THE TRUMPET OF THE THREE ANGELS WHO ARE ABOUT TO SOUND!’”

* AND EARTH DWELLERS HERE ARE UNBELIEVERS.

** IN REVELATION 11:10 IT TALKS ABOUT THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO REJOICE THAT GOD’S TWO SPECIAL WITNESSES DURING THIS TIME OF TRIBULATION ARE KILLED.

*** IT SAYS: “AND THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH WILL REJOICE OVER THEM AND CELEBRATE; AND THEY WILL SEND GIFTS TO ONE ANOTHER, BECAUSE THESE TWO PROPHETS TORMENTED THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH.”

**** IN REVELATION 13:8, 12 AND V. 14, WE HAVE THE SAME TRUTH, THOSE WHO DWELL ON EARTH ARE CLEARLY UNBELIEVERS.

4. REVELATION 13:8 – “ALL WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH WILL WORSHIP HIM, EVERYONE WHOSE NAME HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB WHO HAS BEEN SLAIN.”

REVELATION 13:12 – “HE EXERCISES ALL THE AUTHORITY OF THE FIRST BEAST IN HIS PRESENCE. AND HE MAKES THE EARTH AND THOSE WHO DWELL IN IT TO WORSHIP THE FIRST BEAST, WHOSE FATAL WOUND WAS HEALED.”

REVELATION 13:14 – “AND HE DECEIVES THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH BECAUSE OF THE SIGNS WHICH IT WAS GIVEN HIM TO PERFORM IN THE PRESENCE OF THE BEAST, TELLING THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH TO MAKE AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST WHO HAD THE WOUND OF THE SWORD AND HAS COME TO LIFE.”

* NOW TWO MORE VERSES IN REVELATION 17 THAT CLEARLY MAKE THIS EXPRESSION: “THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH” SYNONYMOUS WITH UNBELIEVERS.

** IN REVELATION 17:2 AND REVELATION 17:8 IT SAYS:

REVELATION 17:2 - “WITH WHOM THE KINGS OF THE EARTH COMMITTED ACTS OF IMMORALITY, AND THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH WERE MADE DRUNK WITH THE WINE OF HER IMMORALITY.”

REVELATION 17:8 – “THE BEAST THAT YOU SAW WAS, AND IS NOT, AND IS ABOUT TO COME UP OUT OF THE ABYSS AND GO TO DESTRUCTION. AND THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH, WHOSE NAME HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, WILL WONDER WHEN THEY SEE THE BEAST, THAT HE WAS AND IS NOT AND WILL COME.”

*** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 3:10, WITHOUT QUESTION, THOSE WHO DWELL ON EARTH IS MAKING A REFERENCE TO THE BODY OF UNBELIEVERS, UNSAVED PEOPLE THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH.

**** SO THE PURPOSE OF THIS TRIAL, THIS TIME OF TRIBULATION UPON THE WHOLE WORLD, IS NOT FOR THE TRUE CHURCH, TRUE BELIEVERS LIKE THOSE AT PHILADELPHIA, BUT FOR UNBELIEVERS, TO JUDGE THEM.

5. FOR THE PROMISE TO THIS TRUE CHURCH IS THEY WILL BE DELIVERED OUT OF THAT TIME, THEY WILL BE KEPT OUT OF THIS TIME.

* NOW THOSE SPECIFIC BELIEVERS WOULD NOT GO THROUGH THIS TIME, BECAUSE THEY WOULD DIE BEFORE THIS WORLDWIDE TRIBULATION.

** BUT THEY WERE ENCOURAGED AND GIVEN HOPE TO PERSEVERE EVEN MORE, THAT IF THAT TIME WOULD COME IN THEIR LIFETIMES THEY WOULD BE TAKEN OUT OF THAT TIME OF TRIBULATION ON THE WHOLE WORLD.

*** IN OTHER WORDS, BELIEVERS ARE GIVEN PROMISES TO GIVE THEM HOPE IN THE MIDST OF COMING TRIALS, LIKE JESUS DID TO HIS HURTING DISCIPLES IN JOHN 14:1-3 (READ JOHN 14:1-3).

**** NOW THAT PROMISE WAS NOT FULFILLED IN THEIR LIFETIME, BUT IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST, WHICH TAKES PLACE AT A TIME WHEN JESUS RESURRECTS THEIR BODIES, READ I CORINTHIANS 15:51-57 AND I THESSALONIANS 4:13-18.

6. NOW THIS RESCUING TAKES PLACE FOR ALL BELIEVERS, ALL THOSE IN THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST, FROM PHILADELPHIA, TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH, TO THE CHURCH AT THESSALONICA.

* AND WE CALL THIS EVENT, THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH WHEN JESUS COMES IN THE AIR, TO RESCUE, TO TAKE OUT OF THIS WORLD, THE DEAD AND THOSE WHO ARE ALIVE IN HIM.

** AND THIS COMING IS DIFFERENT FROM HIS COMING IN REVELATION 19 WHERE EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM AS HE COMES BACK TO THE EARTH.

*** AND I BELIEVE THE CONTEXT OF REVELATION 3:10&11 IS TALKING ABOUT THE RAPTURE PHASE OF THE 2’D COMING, THE SNATCHING AWAY OF HIS BRIDE FROM THE HOUR OF TRIAL, TESTING, TRIBULATION WHICH WILL COME UPON THE WHOLE EARTH.

**** CHRIST WILL COME TO DELIVER HIS CHURCH FROM THE TRIBULATION ON THE WHOLE WORLD OF UNBELIEVERS.

**** THE COMING, TALKED ABOUT IN II THESSALONIANS 2:1 WHERE IT SAYS: “NOW WE REQUEST YOU, BRETHREN, WITH REGARD TO THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND OUR GATHERING TOGETHER TO HIM.”

7. AND THIS GATHERING TOGETHER, THIS PHASE OF HIS COMING IS TALKED ABOUT IN V. 11 WHERE WE’LL SEE PROMISE #2. LOOK AT V. 11 PLEASE.

II. PROMISE #2, (READ V. 11)

A. NOW THIS COMING THAT CHRIST REFERS TO IN V. 11 DIFFERS FROM THOSE PROMISED TO THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS IN REVELATION 2:5, THE CHURCH AT PERGAMUM IN REVELATION 2:16 AND THE CHURCH AT SARDIS IN REVELATION 3:3.

* FOR THOSE EARLIER PROMISES TO UNFAITHFUL CHURCHES WERE WARNINGS OF IMPENDING TEMPORAL JUDGMENT ON SINNING CONGREGATIONS.

** FOR EXAMPLE IT SAYS IN REVELATION 2:5 TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS: “THEREFORE REMEMBER FROM WHERE YOU HAVE FALLEN, AND REPENT AND DO THE DEEDS YOU DID AT FIRST; OR ELSE I AM COMING TO YOU AND WILL REMOVE YOUR LAMPSTAND OUT OF ITS PLACE –UNLESS YOU REPENT.”

*** NOW AGAIN THIS KIND OF COMING WAS IMPENDING JUDGMENT ON PEOPLE WHO WOULD NOT REPENT.

**** NOW THE COMING SPOKEN OF IN REVELATION 3:11 TO THIS FAITHFUL CHURCH, IS TO BRING THE HOUR OF TESTING OR TRIBULATION ON UNBELIEVERS THAT CULMINATES HIM RESCUING BELIEVERS FROM THIS HOUR OF TESTING.

1. I BELIEVE IN THIS CONTEXT IT IS CHRIST’S COMING TO DELIVER THE CHURCH, NOT TO BRING JUDGMENT TO IT.

* AND THE WORD QUICKLY IN V. 11 DEPICTS THE IMMANENCY OF CHRIST’S COMING, NOT IT’S IMMEDIACY. IT IS IMMINENT, NOT IMMEDIATE.

** THE IDEA IS NOT NECESSARILY THAT IT WILL OCCUR SOON, BUT THAT WHEN IT DOES, IT WILL BE SUDDEN, QUICKLY.

*** IMMINENT MEANS IT MAY HAPPEN AT ANY TIME AND WHEN IT DOES IT WILL BE SUDDEN AND QUICKLY AND IT WILL SURELY HAPPEN.

**** SO I BELIEVE THE COMING HERE IS THE RAPTURE OF THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST; AND UNTIL THAT DAY, WHICH DID NOT TAKE PLACE IN THEIR LIFETIME AT PHILADELPHIA, IN FACT IN MOST BELIEVER’S LIFETIMES, IT IS SET BEFORE BELIEVERS FOR HOPE AND CONTINUED ENDURANCE.

2. AND THAT’S THE IDEA HERE FOR THESE BELIEVERS AND ALL BELIEVERS IN CHRIST’S CHURCH, HOLD FAST TO WHAT YOU HAVE, A COMMAND TO REMAIN FAITHFUL AND LOYAL TO CHRIST, SO THAT NO ONE TAKES YOUR CROWN.

* THE CROWN MOST LIKELY WHICH IS LIFE, THE CROWN OR REWARD FOR THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY ENDURE TO THE END IS ETERNAL.

** AND THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY PERSEVERE SHOW THAT THEY ARE TRUE CHILDREN OF CHRIST, NEVER NEEDING TO FEAR LOSING THEIR SALVATION. TRUE BELIEVERS PERSEVERE AND THE RESULT WILL BE THE CROWN WHICH IS LIFE, ETERNAL LIFE BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S GRACE.

*** NOW THE PROMISE IS CHRIST WILL COME QUICKLY IN V. 11. HE WILL DELIVER HIS OWN FROM THE TRIBULATION THAT COMES ON THE WHOLE WORLD.

**** AND BELOVED, REVELATION CHAPTERS 6-18 TALK ABOUT A TIME OF TRIBULATION ON THIS WORLD AS NEVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.

3. THIS TIME OF TRIBULATION, I BELIEVE, IS THE FULFILLMENT OF DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK IN DANIEL 9:25-27, A WEEK, A PERIOD OF 7 YEARS, THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE IN JEREMIAH 30:7, AND THE TIME THAT JESUS REFERRED TO IN HIS OLIVET DISCOURSE IN MATTHEW 24:21: “FOR THEN THERE WILL BE A GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT OCCURRED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL NOW, NOR EVER WILL.”

* AND IN SUMMARY, I BELIEVE THE PRECIOUS PROMISES OF VV. 10&11 COMMUNICATE A PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE FOR THE TRUE CHURCH, FOR TRUE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST WHO GIVE EVIDENCE OF SALVATION THROUGH PERSEVERANCE.

** THAT THE TRUE CHURCH WILL BE DELIVERED FROM THE HOUR OF TRIAL THAT WILL COME UPON THE WHOLE EARTH, THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION TALKED ABOUT CHRONOLOGICALLY IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 6-18.

*** AND IN CONTEXT OF THE DAYS OF THE LORD AND THE RAPTURE OF I THESSALONIANS 4, IT SAYS IN I THESSALONIANS 5:9 TO BELIEVERS (READ IT).

**** AND TO ME THAT IS A PRECIOUS PROMISE TO THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, WE WILL NOT GO THROUGH THE TIME OF TRIBULATION THAT WILL COME UPON THE WHOLE WORLD OF UNBELIEVERS.

4. BUT THERE IS ONE MORE PROMISE IN OUR TEXT TODAY, ONE THAT IS GIVEN TO ALL TRUE BELIEVERS. LOOK AT V. 12 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL LOOK AT PROMISE #3.

III. PROMISE #3, (READ V. 12)

A. NOW AS CHRIST CONCLUDES THE LETTER TO THE FAITHFUL CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA, HE PROMISES 4 ETERNAL BLESSINGS TO THE ONE WHO OVERCOMES.

* AND AS WE HAVE ALREADY LEARNED IN OUR STUDY OF THE OTHER CHURCHES, OVERCOMERS IS A SYNONYM FOR A TRUE BELIEVER, FOR I JOHN 5:4&5 SAYS: (READ THEM).

** NOW THE FIRST BLESSING TO TRUE BELIEVERS, TO OVERCOMERS, IS THAT CHRIST WILL MAKE THAT PERSON A PILLAR IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THAT PERSON WILL NOT GO OUT FROM THAT PLACE.

*** AND A PILLAR REPRESENTS IMMOVABILITY, PERMANENCE, STABILITY.

**** PILLARS ALSO REPRESENTED HONOR IN DAYS GONE BY, FOR PILLARS IN PAGAN TEMPLES WERE SOMETIMES CARVED IN SUCH A WAY TO HONOR A PARTICULAR DEITY.

1. AND MOST LIKELY THE PROMISE CHRIST MAKES TO TRUE BELIEVERS HERE IS THEY WILL HAVE AN ETERNAL PLACE OF HONOR IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, SYMBOLIC OF HEAVEN.

* FOR IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, MENTIONED IN THIS VERSE, HEAVEN FOR BELIEVERS, THERE IS NO TEMPLE OF GOD FOR THE LORD GOD WILL BE THE TEMPLE. IN REVELATION 21:22 AND WHERE GOD IS, IT’S HEAVEN, WHAT THE NEW JERUSALEM WILL BE

** AND TO PEOPLE IN PHILADELPHIA WITH IT’S HISTORY OF EARTHQUAKES AND FLEEING FROM THEM, THE PROMISE THAT THEY WILL NOT GO OUT FROM HEAVEN WAS UNDERSTOOD AS SECURITY IN ETERNALLY GLORY.

*** NOW THE SECOND BLESSING OF THIS PROMISE TO OVERCOMERS, TRUE BELIEVERS IS THAT CHRIST WILL WRITE UPON HIM THE NAME OF MY GOD.

**** AND THE PHRASE MY GOD IS USED 4 TIMES IN V. 12 IN CHRIST MAKING REFERENCE TO HIS FATHER.

2. AND THIS PHRASE MOST LIKELY DEPICTS OWNERSHIP, SIGNIFYING THAT ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS BELONG TO GOD.

* IT ALSO PROBABLY SPEAKS OF THE INTIMATE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE WITH FATHER.

** NEXT, THE THIRD BLESSING IN OVERCOMERS IS THAT CHRIST PROMISES TO WRITE ON BELIEVER’S THE NAME OF THE CITY OF MY GOD, THE NEW JERUSALEM, WHICH COMES DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM MY GOD.

*** AND THE NEW JERUSALEM, THE ETERNAL ABODE OF BELIEVERS TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 21&22 IS GUARANTEED FOR US.

**** THIS IS ANOTHER BLESSING OF SECURITY, SAFETY AND GLORY FOR CHRISTIANS HAVE ETERNAL CITIZENSHIP IN HEAVEN’S CAPITAL CITY, THE NEW JERUSALEM.

3. AND THEN FINALLY CHRIST PROMISES BELIEVER’S HIS NEW MAN.

* AND CHRIST’S NAME REPRESENTS THE FULLNESS OF HIS PERSON. IN HEAVEN BELIEVERS WILL SEE HIM JUST AS HE IS, GLORIFIED!

** AND WHATEVER WE MAY HAVE KNOWN OF HIM WILL PALE IN THE REALITY IN WHICH WE WILL SEE HIM IN HIS GLORIFIED STATE.

*** AND MOST LIKELY THE NEW NAME BY WHICH TRUE BELIEVERS WILL BE PRIVILEGED TO CALL HIM WILL REFLECT THAT GLORIOUS REVELATION OF HIS PERSON.

**** SO THE BLESSING OF THE PROMISE TO OVERCOMERS IS ENCOURAGING AND SHOULD GIVE HOPE TO OVERCOMERS, TRUE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST, WHICH LEADS US TO A FINAL REPETITIOUS EXHORTATION IN V. 13. LOOK AT V. 13 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 13. NOW THIS EXHORTATION CLOSES ALL 7 LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.

* AND BELIEVERS IN ALL CHURCHES, FOR CHURCHES IS PLURAL HERE, ARE REMINDED TO HEED THE TRUTHS FOUND IN EACH LETTER.

** WE ARE ADMONISHED TO LISTEN UP AND TAKE HEED TO WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES.

*** AND THIS IS WISE COUNCIL WHENEVER WE HEAR THE WORD OF GOD INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, APPLY THE SCRIPTURE, APPLY THE TRUTHS WHERE NEEDED AND DON’T BE JUST A HEARER OF THE WORD OF THE SPIRIT, BUT BE A DOER OF THE WORD.

IN WRAP UP AND IN APPLICATION: (1) THESE PRECIOUS PROMISES GIVEN TO THIS FAITHFUL CHURCH ARE ENCOURAGEMENTS TODAY.

* WE SHOULD HAVE RENEWED HOPE AND BE SECURE IN THEM AND STAND UPON THEM.

** AND I REMIND YOU FROM WHERE I BEGAN TODAY, STANDING ON ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

*** THEY ARE TRUE TRUTHS GIVEN FROM A HOLY GOD WHO CANNOT LIE.

**** AND IT MAY BE YOU NEED TODAY TO STAND ON ONE OF POSSIBLY 8000 PROMISES FOUND IN THE BIBLE.

(2) TO STAND UPON A PROMISE THROUGH A TIME OF TRIAL, A TIME OF DISCOURAGEMENT, A TIME OF SORROW, A TIME OF PHYSICAL PAIN, OR EVEN A TIME OF FEAR.

* DAVID NICHOLAS SAID: “GOD’S PROMISES ARE LIKE STARS, THE DARKER THE NIGHT THE BRIGHTER THEY SHINE.” (END QUOTE)

** AND YOU MAY BE GOING THROUGH A DARK TIME RIGHT NOW, GO TO THE BRILLIANT LIGHT OF THE PROMISES OF GOD AND STAND UPON THEM AS YOUR ROCK, YOUR FORTRESS, MAY THEY BE YOUR SHIELD AND COMPASS AND PROTECTION. PSALM 84:11 SAYS: (READ IT).

*** BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHAT PROMISE DO YOU NEED TO STAND UPON TODAY?

**** PURITAN SAMUEL RUTHERFORD, WHO LIVED FROM 1600 TO 1661 SAID CONCERNING THE PROMISES OF GOD: “SWIM THROUGH YOUR TEMPTATIONS AND TROUBLES. TURN TO THE PROMISES; THEY BE OUR LORD’S BRANCHES HANGING OVER THE WATER SO THAT HIS HALF DROWNED CHILDREN MAY TAKE A GRIP ON THEM. LET GO THAT GRIP AND YOU SINK TO THE BOTTOM.”

(3) BELIEVER, DON’T DROWN TODAY IN TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS. STAND ON THE PROMISES OF GOD, FOR I CLOSE WITH THIS FAMILIAR CHORUS TO OVERCOMERS, TRUE BELIEVERS.

* EVERY PROMISE IN THE BOOK IS MINE,

EVERY CHAPTER, EVERY VERSE, EVERY LINE,

ALL ARE BLESSINGS OF HIS LOVE DIVINE,

EVERY PROMISE IN THE BOOK IS MINE.

** MAY WE STAND ON THEM, BELIEVER!!