Understand The Times, International

"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; 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. ... 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. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.�

Comment:

The church that Jesus Christ addressed as the church of Philadelphia in the third chapter of the Book of Revelation is often presented as a representative of the remnant Last Days church. By a remnant, we mean the narrow segment of Christianity that will remain biblically-based. The members will be devout followers of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. While the small numbers that make up this church may be indicative of weakness, the reality is the church of Philadelphia is strong because the members have stood up against apostasy and kept the Word of God.

Application:

The signs of the times indicate we are living the era of the Church of Philadelphia. Obviously, from a scriptural background this will not be a time when it will be popular to be a biblical Christian. Satan knows his time is short and will do all that he can to infiltrate Christianity with doctrines of demons. This is evidenced today by the current trends we see happening in churches that were once called Bible-believing and �evangelical.� These are the days that we would expect if the return of Jesus Christ is at hand. How tragic it is that unbelievers have always rejected the truth but so-called Christians, the very ones who should know better, also scoff at God�s Word and go their own way and make a mockery of Christianity.