Thought for November 30, 2023

•  1215: First use of "transubstantiation" regarding the Eucharist.
• 1782: Britain acknowledges U.S.  independence
• 1864: Battle of Franklin begins
• 1876: Mask of Agamemnon discovered at Mycenae
• 1900: Front wheel drive for cars patented
• 1956: First use of video tape on television
• 1967: Eugene McCarthy announces run for Presidency on anti-Vietnam war platform
• 1971: "Brian's Song" airs for the first time
• 1982: Michael Jackson releases "Thriller"
• 1993: Jacksonville announced as 30th NFL franchise
• 1993: "Schindler's List" premiers
• 1995: Operation Desert Storm ends
• 2004: Ken Jennings loses on "Jeopardy" after winning $2.5 million
• Born: Jonathan Swift, Oliver Winchester, Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, Shirley Chisolm, Joe B Hall, Dick Clark, G Gordon Liddy, Bill Walsh, Ridley Scott, Bo Jackson
• Died: FJA Hort [Bible scholar whose Greek New Testament forms the foundation of most modern English translations], Oscar Wilde, Zeppo Marx, James Baldwin ["Go Tell It on the Mountain"], Tiny Tim, Evel Knievel, Jim Nabors, George HW Bush

Thought:

Today, the letter to Philadelphia found in Revelation 3:7-13. A rich agricultural city whose chief crops were grapes and chief god Dionysius. Most people lived in villages outside the city that had been destroyed by an earthquake in 17AD. The city was founded as a door to the barbarous region of Phyrgia which may explain the reference to "door" below.

Jesus says He is holy and true [3:7]. Just ponder that for a moment this morning. Jesus is holy--perfect, complete, totally righteous and always Right. He is true--never lies, keeps all His promises. Who will you talk to today that meets that qualification--only Jesus. So if we know someone who is holy and true who desires to have a relationship with us and we neglect or refuse, what does that say about me. Jesus has something to say that only someone who is holy and true can say.

• I have the key to the door and no one can open or shut the door except me. [3:7] Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life and no one gets to the Father except through Him. 
• Jesus commends the church--it was small and not powerful and under double pressure. Pressure to say "Caesar is Lord" from the government and pressure from the synagogue to deny that Jesus was the Christ. Sounds a little like us today--pressured by the government to bend on our faith, pressured by the religions to be tolerant and not call them cults, false religions, pathways to hell. 
• Philadelphia is the only church not to be criticized or reprimanded. Think about that--the small weak church is not reprimanded--they kept the word despite the pressure. Sometimes that is all we can do--keep the word, do the next right thing, depend completely on the Lord. 
• Jesus' only command--hold on, hold fast. Now the good news that we sang a few weeks ago--"He will hold me fast, for my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast." As I cling to Him, He holds me fast.
• Now look at the promised rewards--
• The synagogue of Satan will bow down--every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of the Father--they may deny that He is Christ today, but at His coming the church will be vindicated.
• Kept from the hour of testing. this is a much debated promise. Some see the rapture. Some see this promise that He will protect and preserve through the tribulation. I find it interesting that in His high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus prayed that we not be taken out of the world but that we be protected from the evil one. 
• He will come quickly--now it has been over 2000 years since John wrote. But a day with the Lord is as a 1000 years. 
• We will be pillars in the Temple of God. Peter calls us living stones [1 Peter 2:5]. Jesus is building a temple of those who are in Christ. Every stone is important.
• In another letter, Jesus promised us a new name that only He knew. Here He promises to write on us the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem and Jesus' new name. Recall that the beast wanted to place his mark on the people. Here Jesus says I will mark my possessions with my Father's name, My name and the name of their residence. We are His sheep. 

Today, we may be under pressure from the government and the false religions or no religion. We may be feeling weak, but in Christ we have the strength to not only endure, but to grow and bear fruit. He tells us to hold fast as He holds us fast, for the day of the Lord is coming and the promised rewards are eternal. 

Blessings

Larry