John Thiel mp3

The church of Philadelphia which means ‘brotherly love,’ indeed, our contemplation throughout this series so far has been upon the church of Jesus Christ.

Scripture reading: Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost. ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.

Jesus is talking to His church not only the disciples.  He said, ‘I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ In Revelation 2:2-3 we see Jesus true to His word.

Ephesus

Remember Revelation is the revelation of Jesus and as we have been studying through Ephesus which was the desirable place of His church because He had just launched this early Christian church in the apostles. It was desirable and Jesus is speaking to them. He’s speaking to the angel of the church, ‘I’m with you.’

Smyrna

Then we went through to Smyrna; the sweet-smelling savour of the persecution of His children who were prepared to stand for Him even with the threat of death under pagan Rome. Jesus is there speaking to them.

Pergamos

Then we came to Pergamos after that terrible time of Pagan persecution. Paganism accepted Christianity in Constantine and the church became exalted Pergamos. Jesus was there speaking to them. He was speaking to each church.

Thyatira

Then we continued into Thyatira which again He speaks to them there. He acknowledges their terrible time of the dark ages where once again, the name Thyatira has to do with the sweet savour of contrition. There we saw the church that He is speaking to again. He hasn’t left them, ‘I will be with you even unto the end of the world.’

Sardis

We concluded last week on Sardis which remained after the Papal persecution. The church of Jesus Christ that you and I need to be members of is made up of the overcomers out of every period of these seven churches.

Those who were not overcomers continued as a church but they continued as a fallen church. You have fallen churches when we come to that period of Sardis. The Catholic church and the present Waldenses still exist incidentally, but they’re not on fire anymore also the protestant churches from the period of Sardis. We will revisit this serious problem that those who are not paying attention to Jesus with them finally become Laodicean. Arriving at Sardis, we saw that last week 1798 through to 1833 and the language to the overcomer that Jesus expressed there:

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

When the pope was taken prisoner in 1798, the period of Sardis painted a sad picture. They have a name that they live but are dead. But out of that period, there is an overcomer who shall be clothed in white raiment. These people continued out of Sardis into the period of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of the temptation, which shall come upon the whole world to try them that dwell upon the earth.

As you go carefully through each verse applicable to Philadelphia, you find no rebuke. All the other ones besides Smyrna have all been rebuked for something or other. These people who come out of the period of Sardis, have white garments. They have overcome and He has no rebuke against them. The period of Philadelphia is precisely that period from 1833. The overcomers out of Sardis coming to 1844.

The saints anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting, watching, and almost constant prayer. Even some sinners looked forward to the time with terror; but the great mass manifested the spirit of Satan in their opposition to the message. They mocked and scoffed, repeating everywhere, “No man knoweth the day nor the hour.” Evil angels urged them on to harden their hearts and to reject every ray of light from heaven, that they might be fastened in the snare of Satan. Many who professed to be looking for Christ had no part in the work of the message. EW 238.4

A spirit of solemn and earnest prayer was everywhere felt by the saints. A holy solemnity was resting upon them. Angels were watching with the deepest interest the effect of the message, and were elevating those who received it, and drawing them from earthly things to obtain large supplies from salvation’s fountain. EW 239.1

God’s people were then accepted by Him – Philadelphia.

Jesus looked upon them with pleasure, for His image was reflected in them. They had made a full sacrifice, an entire consecration, and expected to be changed to immortality. But they were destined again to be sadly disappointed. EW 239.1

From 1833 to 1844 they were the church; the angel of the church and the people they ministered to. Jesus had nothing to complain about them. He could see Himself perfectly reflected in them; they had that perfect love. That’s why Philadelphia was the name chosen – ‘brotherly love’. They had such a love for God and rejoicing that He would come, and they would be looking forward to His coming. As we read there, they were in constant prayer – a spirit of solemn earnest prayer was everywhere felt. A holy solemnity was resting upon them; they were expecting Jesus to come in 1844.

Can you see what it means to be clothed in white? As we look at Philadelphia here, a condition of an unreprovable spiritual state:

Revelation 3:7 And 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; ⁸ I 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. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,  ¹¹Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

These Christian churches from 1833 to 1844 were getting ready for Jesus to come and He had no rebuke for them. Were they Sabbath keepers or Sunday keepers? They were Sunday keepers. As you continue through from that period, they had to learn a whole heap of things that they hadn’t yet practiced correctly. They were flesh eaters, they were not informed regarding all the truths that were to be re-established after the Dark Ages.

But what do we see here? Jesus has nothing against them – they kept Sunday. Later on, they learned to keep Sabbath. They were living up to every light that they had and were looking forward to Jesus to come. The overcomers from that period arrived after the 1844 disappointment.

But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a work of preparation to be accomplished for them. Light was to be given, directing their minds to the temple of God in heaven; and as they should by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties would be revealed. Another message of warning and instruction was to be given to the church. GC 424.4

Although Jesus had nothing against them and could see Himself perfectly reflected, yet they were not yet ready for Jesus to come. What do we behold? There is such a condition in the heart of a man or a woman that they can reflect Jesus in character perfectly and yet still have to learn. There is a condition in the church that you will still see people who are not quite perfect in all practices, but their hearts are right with God. Because their hearts are right with God, they are overcomers who come out of this church of ‘brotherly love’ and are given more duties to learn and to put into practice. That’s what’s called justification. They were accepted before God as though they had never sinned because they had opened up entirely to their Lord and Saviour constantly in prayer.

The Attitude of Gods Church

Are you picking up the mentality of God’s true church? It still is willing to learn new duties. As we look later into this situation in Laodicea and the early believers of Laodicean period, we will see that they were willing to learn and obey those new duties. What was the subject that animated the Philadelphian members?

Daniel 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? ¹⁴And he said unto me, ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.‘

The prophecy which seemed most clearly to reveal the time of the second advent was that of Daniel 8:14: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Following his rule of making Scripture its own interpreter, Miller learned that a day in symbolic prophecy represents a year (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6); he saw that the period of 2300 prophetic days, or literal years, would extend far beyond the close of the Jewish dispensation, hence it could not refer to the sanctuary of that dispensation.

Miller accepted the generally received view that in the Christian age the earth is the sanctuary, and he therefore understood that the cleansing of the sanctuary foretold in Daniel 8:14 represented the purification of the earth by fire at the second coming of Christ. If, then, the correct starting point could be found for the 2300 days, he concluded that the time of the second advent could be readily ascertained. Thus would be revealed the time of that great consummation, the time when the present state, with “all its pride and power, pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppression, would come to an end;” when the curse would be “removed from off the earth, death be destroyed, reward be given to the servants of God, the prophets and saints, and them who fear His name, and those be destroyed that destroy the earth.”GC 324.3

William Miller began to teach this subject and mark here, he had a view that was generally taught by the Christian church at that time that the sanctuary of the Christian era is the earth. That one view led to terrible disappointment but it was this subject of Daniel 8:14 that was the careful study of William Miller and his associates.

He had devoted two years to the study of the Bible, when, in 1818, he reached the solemn conviction that in about twenty-five years Christ would appear for the redemption of His people. “I need not speak,” says Miller, “of the joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor of the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in the joys of the redeemed. The Bible was now to me a new book. It was indeed a feast of reason; all that was dark, mystical, or obscure to me in its teachings, had been dissipated from my mind before the clear light that now dawned from its sacred pages; and, oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared!

All the contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the word were gone; and although there were many portions of which I was not satisfied I had a full understanding, yet so much light had emanated from it to the illumination of my before darkened mind, that I felt a delight in studying the Scripture which I had not before supposed could be derived from its teachings.” GC 329.2

Can you see what Jesus really appreciates? An attitude that makes His words precious. As we are reading this, examine ourselves. Are we doing what the Philadelphian Angel and the Philadelphian people did? Are we engaging in this amazing discovery of the purity of the Word that thrills the soul? This is the Church that is God’s Church in the period of Philadelphia.

As we continue to reflect upon this, we look at this angel because He says to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, (the angel of Philadelphia was fully engaged with the prospect of the second coming of Jesus) – ‘Behold, I come quickly.’ They proclaimed the great joy of salvation in Jesus Christ in the everlasting gospel that they proclaimed and the coming judgment. What is the angel that they represented; the angel of the church of Philadelphia? They were proclaiming the joy of salvation through the gospel and the coming judgment.

Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, ⁷Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

This is the message of the Philadelphian period, and it was the Philadelphian angel who proclaimed it. What did he declare? What did the angel in this period declare about Sardis? It’s a very important message that is followed now because as William Miller and his associates proclaimed this message to the protestant churches which from 1798 through to 1833 were being addressed, ‘You have a name that you live, but you are dead.’

What was declared by the second angel who was proclaiming at the same period of Philadelphia?

Revelation 14:8 Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.

Sardis

Babylon in the Catholic sense had already fallen long ago, but this Babylon refers to Sardis—she has fallen. This was announced by the people of Philadelphia, the angel of the Church of Philadelphia. They declared Sardis as fallen and it was during this period starting already close to the end of the Thyatira period leading up to the coming of Jesus after the time of the end in 1798.

Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; ¹³ And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. ¹⁴ And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Thereafter those signs indicating the coming of Jesus were to be observed. This is the sixth seal, and it was the study of these people that made them realise, “Have these signs not been fulfilled?” It was during the period of Philadelphia that all those signs had come to their full fruition.

In 1833, two years after Miller began to present in public the evidences of Christ’s soon coming, the last of the signs appeared which were promised by the Saviour as tokens of His second advent. Said Jesus: “The stars shall fall from heaven.” Matthew 24:29. And John in the Revelation declared, as he beheld in vision the scenes that should herald the day of God: “The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” Revelation 6:13. This prophecy received a striking and impressive fulfillment in the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833. That was the most extensive and wonderful display of falling stars which has ever been recorded. GC 333.1

The falling of the stars – can you appreciate the people of Philadelphia? This is the sign according to Revelation chapter 6. Straight after this sign, the coming of Jesus will take place. We have a church ready at heart for the coming of Jesus. It was just one mistaken assessment inherited from the Sardis church. What was the general view in the Christian age? The earth is the sanctuary. Therefore they expected Him to come in 1844 because they thought the sanctuary was the earth. But their condition of being ready for Jesus to come as best as they knew how, Jesus acknowledged and He dressed them in garments of white.

As we look at this period of Philadelphia, can you see something about the Church of Philadelphia; God’s Church in that period of time that we need to resonate with if we want to be a member of God’s Christian church? They were so fully wrapped in the prospect of meeting Jesus. Their whole mind, their whole heart was occupied with that. They expected Jesus to come. Is this not what we should be in the state of today? That church of ‘brotherly love’, that condition of a state of mind, a state of spirituality that is described here in this period.

It is to be for God’s people right through ever since. Are we that church? Are we so occupied, wrapped with the coming of Jesus concentrating on the beautiful study of God’s word, occupying our mind with this as they did, so that Jesus can look upon us with approbation as He did upon them? These two scriptures \ would have been operative in the minds of the angel, the church of Philadelphia. Here the apostle is appealing to wake us up out of our Laodicea condition because the condition of Philadelphia is what we need:

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in Him that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

Can you see the Church of God ever since 1833-1844 onwards? We are admonished to ‘abide in Jesus, that when He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.’ Here were people that He could see Himself reflected in. Is that not where we should be?

1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: ¹³to the end, he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

The church of ‘brotherly love’ is to be the church that we are to embrace. The period has passed, but the condition is to be ours: brotherly love. “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.’

The Lord is telling them that He has set before them an open door, and no man can shut it. But the condition, the attitude, the state of mind, as we saw there in the mind of and the expression of William Miller.

Revelation 3:7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that has the key of David, He that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth.’

It is this people that we need to understand and appreciate that this attitude of Philadelphia applies to us too because ‘I know your 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.’

God grants us a further interest in this church so that we may recognise, just like we recognised the Waldenses who were to be our example, that Philadelphia is to be our example.

May we reach this condition. Let us strive for it, as they.

Amen.