[JFR]
In this chapter we are going to consider the church of
Asia that falls with the timeframe of 1700-1900.
This Church is the church at Philadelphia.
Let us now consider it.
Revelation 3:7-11
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.
~ 273 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
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.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown.
(KJV)
The Church At Philadelphia
This is the church during the great awakening of the
18th Century and the Advent movement started by the
Millerites.
The "Jews" in these verses are not literal Jews, but
spiritual Jews, those who profess to be in Christ Jesus,
i.e., professing Christians. This is one of two churches
of the seven that don't receive a rebuke. This is a good
church that hold fast to the true doctrine of Christ
Jesus. They did not let themselves be led astray,
because they firmly held to the truth of God's Word.
This is something that is really lacking in the
"Christian" world today, because too many people
would rather go along with their 'feelings' rather than
the truth of God's Word in the Bible. We MUST hold
tight onto the truth. We must stand on the rock, and
not be thrown about by every different wind of
doctrine that comes our way. Throughout these years
we see the Gospel reaching the ends of the earth
~ 274 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
through the great evangelists and missionaries. For
the first time in world history, it looks like every man
and woman on earth would hear the good news about
the saving power of God through Christ.
This age also saw 'Great Awakenings' around the
world. Basically, the age saw one of a spirit of revival
under such men as Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley,
George Whitefield, D.L. Moody, and Charles Finney.
The church at Philadelphia was characterized by their
faithfulness to the word of God. For the first time in
several hundred years the common man had access to
the Bible and could read it for himself. As a result of
this, if you look at the period of time from the
Protestant Reformation in 1517 right up to the early
20th century you will see a church that was faithfully
preaching and teaching the word of God.
Jesus told the church at Philadelphia that He placed an
open door before them, and that is exactly what
happened during this period of time. All of the great
revivals and prayer movements that we know about
took place in this time. Men like Moody, Spurgeon,
and Matthew Henry all came out of this period of
church history. They had an open door, and they took
full advantage of the opportunities they were given.
But around the turn of the 20th century things began
to change, which leads us to the last phase of church
history, the Laodicean age.1
~ 275 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
1 http://sacred-lion.blogspot.com/2009/01/look-at-seven-churches-of-
Today the city is called Alasehir meaning either “Red
city” or “city of Allah”. The original name comes
from King Attalus of Pergamum (159-138 B.C.)
whose surname meant Philadelphus that meant
“Loyal to his brother (Eumenes)”.
The city was almost completely destroyed several
times by earthquakes. The most recent rebuilding was
in A.D. 17.
Grapes were a principal crop of the city and Dionysus,
the god of wine (Bacchus) was one the chief objects
of worship.
A nominal Christian presence was maintained in this
city until the start of World War I.
~ 276 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Jesus has a commendation for this church: the one of
two that had no condemnations laid against them by
the Lord. Jesus identifies Himself to Philadelphia as
Holy and True. The word is translated from the Greek
word Hagios meaning
separated.
Christ’s
righteousness is separate and apart from the sin of this
world.
The church represents Christ in the world. Christ
nature is perfect, He is God’s Messiah, the “Truth”
manifest in the world. Jesus describes Himself as
“The Way”, “The Truth” and “The Life” (John
14;6). Jesus is not one of many truths but “The
Truth”. He holds the Title to the throne of David. The
Messiah, the son of David, was to rule over the Earth
in the kingdom age. He assures the Church He is in
charge. He will rule on David’s throne over the
nations.
Jesus is the One Who opens the door. All authority
under the Heavens and Earth belong to Him. We as a
church operate under His authority. Unlike
the Church of Sardis, the works of the Philadelphia
Church there is not one word of condemnation for this
church.
The works of Sardis lacked because the church fell
away
from
its
moorings. The Sardis church
represented the prophetic foreshadow of the
Reformation church, the Philadelphia church
~ 277 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
represented the prophetic foreshadowing of the
missionary church.
The printing presses made Bibles accessible to the
common person, which in turn caused people to
respond to God’s Word. This response was fully
manifest in the early 18th century. As missionaries set
out to spread the Gospel across the globe.
Jesus said He had placed an open door before the
church. During the missionary age, the doors closed
to the Gospel began to open. Countries closed off to
the Gospel started to see scriptures printed in their
own languages.
Jesus said the church had “little strength.” The basis
of the doors opening to the Gospel was not because of
the wealth of the church, but because of the power of
the word. Biblical based Christianity apart from
the United States is usually the minority and subject
to persecution in many countries. The strength comes
from Christ alone. Philadelphia foreshadowed the
position of this physically weak but spiritually strong
church. The secret behind the power of this church
was their fidelity to doctrine mixed with good works
and obedience.
Jesus commends this church for keeping His
Word. Philadelphia was true to the Gospel, which in
turn allowed Him to use this church more than any
other. The church was not ashamed of Christ. They
~ 278 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
were not concerned about what people thought of
them, they wanted others to know Jesus. They did not
deny Him. This allowed Him to open the doors and
the Gospel to go out.
In verse 9, Jesus mentions the synagogue of Satan.
Like Smyrna, the Christians in Philadelphia faced
opposition from a hostile Jewish population. This also
foreshadowed the opposition the Gospel would
receive by groups claiming the spiritual prerogative
that belonged to Israel.
Jesus Christ makes an unusual promise to this Church,
not
made
to
any
other
of
the
seven
churches. Because Philadelphia kept the command
and persevered in their walk, He promises to keep the
church from the “Hour” of trial.
The world will go through a period of trial, translated
from the Greek word Peirasmos meaning a trial of
proving. The point that Revelation 3:10 makes is this
trial will not be local in nature but involves the whole
world,
or Oikoumene meaning
“inhabited
earth”. Jesus counsels those in the Philadelphia to not
let anybody take their crown, the crown here is the
victory crown (Stephanos) presented at award
ceremonies. He is not talking about salvation but
reward. He is urging the Church to persevere, until He
comes.
~ 279 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
In verse 12, Jesus says, Him that overcometh will I
make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall
go no more out: and I will write upon him the name
of my God, and the name of the city of my God,
which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of
heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my
new name.
New Jerusalem is the future dwelling place of all the
saints with Christ (Revelation 21-22). In New
Jerusalem there is no temple because the city itself is
the Temple and we are part of His Temple. Jesus
points this Church toward the goal of eternity.
http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/revelation/Revelation3/
Conclusion
[JFR]
I have no means of proving this statement, just a
supposition on my part:
I suspect that there were more people saved in this
time period than any of the remaining time frames. I
know that there have been millions that have accepted
Jesus Christ as their Saviour during the 20th and 21st
but in relation to the amount of population during the
Philadelphia time frame, there probably were more to
respond to the preaching of the Gospel.
~ 280 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
In the next chapter we will consider the last time
period of Dr. Carroll’s book, The Trail of Blood.
After that we will consider the last of the seven
churches of Asia, the Church at Laodicea.
~ 281 ~
Church History Through the Trail of Blood
Church History Through the Trail of
Blood
