Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I am in Wichita, Kansas with Christ Life Church. We had a great weekend and I believe that the fruit of the weekend will be evident in the days to come. We heard God’s heart and we are inspired to move forward in His vision for what is before us.
The sixth letter of Revelation was written to the Church of Philadelphia. The word Philadelphia means “brotherly love”. It relates to communion and the testimony of the Spirit of Knowing (Isa. 11:2), thus the angel of Philadelphia is the Spirit of Knowing (Zech. 4:10). This is the true witness of eternal life given as an “eternal judgment” of mercy and grace to live our lives in Christ (Heb. 6:2). That eternal judgment is one of mercy and eternal life for all who find themselves in Christ.
In this letter Jesus is seen as “He who is holy”, a term for God in His Temple. “He opens and no one shuts” and “shuts and no one opens”. All of this is “imagery of the synagogue and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple”. Those in Philadelphia had “little strength” but had “kept His word and have not denied His name”. In Philadelphia there were those of the Synagogue of Satan, who said they were Jews just as there were conflicts in the day of Ezra and Nehemiah with false Jews (Ezra 4; Neh. 4; 6; 13). The testing of the faith of the Church was really the proving of God’s communion of the Spirit. The testimony of God’s love for His people would be the subduing of their oppressors beneath their feet. The true Zion of God would be seen as Christ’s Church (Isa. 60:14; Heb. 12:22). The Spirit of Knowing would prove to establish the foundation of the Church in love. Those who knew the communion of the Spirit would be kept from the hour of trial that would come upon the world. The Greek word for ‘world’ here is oikoumene, meaning land. From the word oikeo, meaning to occupy a house. That which is covenant would be described as “earth” (land), and that which is not covenant would be described as “sea”. The word ‘world’ would be better translated as earth or land in this case. It was not the ‘cosmos’ (global world), but rather the world that professed a knowledge of God (occupied land). This hour of trial was to come to those who professed to be of God in order that those of the true temple of God might prevail. It was not a trial for the unsaved, but a trial for those who made a confession of being the house of God. I believe that the firstfruits fulfillment of this was in the first century persecution of the Church and the judgment of the apostates in A.D. 70. Jesus said He was “coming quickly”.
The Church of Philadelphia was told to hold fast to that which they had and they would be pillars in the temple of God. The firstfruits Church of the first century became the foundation for the Church throughout the generations to come. As pillars in the temple of God they were given the testimony of a love for God and a love for His people. The life of the Spirit was to overcome the life of the flesh and the City of God was beginning its established testimony in the earth. This was true exegetically for the Church of Philadelphia, syntactically true in the history of Ezra and Nehemiah, and true by principle of application in the generations to come. All who enter the New Covenant are given the life of community with God and one another. The provision, safety, government, strength, and community of God’s City will be given to them in increasing measures.
He who overcomes is granted to be made a “pillar in the temple of God”. To be a pillar the temple of God is to be a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. God said a testimony would be “to write on him My new name”. It is through communion with the Spirit of Knowing that we become expressions of the image of Christ (Ex. 34:29-35; Num. 6:25; Num. 12:6-8; 2 Chr. 3:7-18; 4:6; Ps. 80:3, 7, 19; 2 Cor. 3:2-18; 1 Jn. 3:2). This is a full restoration of God’s people to His image (Ex 34:6, 7).
The testimony of those who overcome is that of being established in the earth as a place of God’s eternal presence. It is said that, “he shall go out no more”. These are those who are made strong by the Spirit of Knowing (Jer. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:15); as opposed to those who are cast out (Mt. 8:11, 12).
Revelation 3:12 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. 13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
The testimony of the Church of Philadelphia is that of being in intimate communion with God as the community of God. The name of God and the name of the city of God would be written upon them. This is the New Jerusalem, the New Covenant testimony of becoming the community of Christ by the presence of His Spirit in our lives (Gal. 4:26). The firstfruit church of the first century was the true witness that destroyed the apostate counterfeit and thus apostasy will be perpetually destroyed in every generation to come (Mt. 24:1, 2; Lk. 21:24). Anything that is not of faith in our lives is destroyed by our intimate connection to God through His Spirit. All New Covenant believers have the ability to enter into the full covenant and communion with God and one another (Gal. 4:23-29; 1 Pet. 2:4, 5). The fire of community, communion with God and one another, is one of the lamps of Holy Spirit in our lives.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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