THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Revelation: God's Revelation To His Servants Today On Events About To Occur

Part III: "The Things Which Are": Church History

F. Philadelphia: Message To The Fundamentalist Church - Holding Our Biblical Stance

(Revelation 3:7-13)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

Our Church's last three pastors, all graduates of the Dallas Theological Seminary, have each reflected that institution's Fundamentalist beliefs, so Christ's word to the Fundamentalist Church is important to us (as follows):

Need: "Since our Church's last three pastors, all graduates of the Dallas Theological Seminary, have each taught that seminary's Fundamentalist beliefs, what is Christ's word to the Fundamentalist Church?!"

I. In Revelation 3:7, Christ revealed the Church of Philadelphia was upright, but needed aid handling foes, and in Revelation 3:8 identified this Church as the 19th and first half of the 20th cent. Fundamentalism:

A. Christ in Rev. 3:7 introduced Himself as Holy and True, and God bears that title elsewhere in the N. T. only at Rev. 6:10 (Moult. & Geden, C. G. T., 1974, p. 42) where He is Avenger of His deceased servants' persecutors.

B. Jesus also introduced Himself in Rev. 3:7 as having the keys of David, sovereignly to open and shut doors, alluding to Isaiah 22:22 where government official Eliakim was given these keys in the Davidic kingdom.

C. In Revelation 3:8, this Church is identified as the 19th & first half of the 20th cent. Fundamentalism: (1) Jesus said He had once-for-all given (dedoka, perf. tense of didomi, "give," An. Grk. Lex. (Zon.), 1972, p. 85, 98-99;U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 844) this Church an open door with world governments [as Jesus is the world Messianic ruler on David's throne] to minister worldwide in missions (Rev. 3:8a), for it had a little strength (Rev. 3:8b), i. e., some reliance on God's gracious provisions by faith (2 Tim. 1:16-2:1), and it had kept His Word and not denied His name (Rev. 3:8c). (2) These were the "Fundamentalists" (a) for whom God kept open world government doors for their missionary works esp. in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, and (b) who in that era strongly upheld the Biblical "fundamentals" of ((+)) Christ's Virgin Birth, ((+)) His Bodily Resurrection, ((+)) Scripture's Inerrancy, ((+)) the Substitutionary Atonement and ((+)) Christ's Imminent [Premillennial], Bodily Second Coming (Wm. Sweet, The Story of Rel. in America, 1973, p. 407) opposite advocates of Liberal Theology that denied these beliefs in the mainline Protestant denominations.

II. Jesus thus promised to vindicate Fundamentalists before their Liberal Theology foes, Revelation 3:9:

A. Christ charged the promoters of Liberal Theology as belonging to the synagogue of Satan, falsely calling themselves Jews as did some in the Revelation 2:9 Smyrna era, but lying in doing so (Rev. 3:9a) (as follows):

1. Unlike the physical Jews back in Rev. 2:9 who were false Jews for not trusting in Christ [Rom. 2:28-29], these Rev. 3:9 "Jews" also "lied," and part of their deceit is seen in their being made to come to bow at the feet of Fundamentalists (Rev. 3:9b), alluding to Isa. 60:10-14 where Gentiles, NOT physical Jews, do that!

2. Well, Liberal Theologians have famously promoted the "Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man" in denial of the Jews as God's chosen people, of salvation by faith and of Christ's atonement, theopedia.com.

B. Thus, Christ promised to bring some in Liberal mainline Protestant churches to acknowledge Fundamentalism in their churches, a prophecy fulfilled when, after Liberals peaked mid-century, their churches were depleted as many of them were saved and left for Fundamentalist churches by century's end, Rev. 3:9b; theopedia.com.

III. Yet, since Liberal Theology SLANDERED God's DECEASED HUMAN WRITERS of SCRIPTURE as FUELED by DARWINIAN EVOLUTION, God GREATLY VINDICATED these WRITERS, Rev. 3:10, 7a:

A. The Rev. 3:9 verb "lie" (pseudomai, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 844) is also used by Christ regarding sinners elsewhere only in Matt. 5:11-12 (Ibid., Moult. & Ged., p. 1021) of the slander His disciples and O. T. prophets faced. Jesus' disciples wrote the N. T., so such slander is exactly what Liberal Theologians did by attacking the words and characters of deceased O. T. and N. T. writers of Scripture (Z. P. E. B., v. One, p. 584-591).

B. Then, (1) Christ's "word of my patience" (Rev. 3:10a) refers to 2 Peter 3:9 that, via 2 Peter 3:1-6 in its context, counters the uniformitarianism behind Darwin's theory of evolution (Ibid., B. K. C., N. T., p. 875), which theory Liberal Theologians greatly used to deny the Bible's credibility (Z. P. E. B., v. One, p. 591), and with it pure creation (versus 2 Pet. 3:5) and the worldwide Flood (versus 2 Pet. 3:6). (2) God's pledge to "keep thee from the hour of temptation" (Rev. 3:10b) then points to 2 Peter 2:1-9 where God punishes such false teachers while keeping the godly like Noah and Lot in their eras safe from punishment. (3) The N. T. Greek word for "world" in Rev. 3:10b is oikoumene (Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.), but since the rapture does not occur until after the next Church era of Laodicea, oikoumene is not the "world" upon which the Great Tribulation comes, but its local definition of "Roman Empire," Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 563-564.

C. Thus, as (1) God locally judged Sodom and Gomorrah in 2 Peter 2:6-7, He sent World War I and its result of World War II on Europe, the old "Roman Empire" (cf. Natali Bendavid, "A Century of Scars Linger From Europe's Great War," The Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2014, p. A1) for its adoption of German rationalism that fueled Liberal Theology as furthered by Darwin's theory of evolution toward slandering Scripture's authors. (2) Germany as a nation suffered the most devastation (Compton's Enc., v. 22, p. 281) due to (a) its push of this error and (b) Hitler's persecution of the Jews: (3) Hitler and Musollini held to Darwinian evolution that led both men to wage war with the view that it would purge Europe of weak peoples (Bolton Davidheiser, Evol. and the Christ. Faith, 1976, p. 352-353), so God let Europe eat the fruit of the evolutionary theory it had adopted. (4) Then, as God preserved Lot, He preserved the homeland of Fundamentalists who lived primarily in America out of the two world wars to protect and vindicate them. [Great Britain had some Fundamentalists, so though it was heavily bombed, it was not invaded.] (5) Thus, as 2 Peter was so highly attacked by Liberal Theologians (Z. P. E. B., v. Four, p. 727), Christ applied 2 Peter 3:1-10 and 2:1-9 to save Fundamentalists who heeded that epistle as His Word while applying it to punish its Liberal Theology foes! (6) God also vindicated the Fundamentalists' Biblical stand for 2 Peter in giving the world a foretaste of their assertion from 2 Peter 3:10 that the world would pass away in a literal massive fire, and that via the dropping of two literal, fiery, atomic bombs to end World War II! (7) Japan was the divine target for these bombs since on December 7, 1941, it attacked the Territory (not then a state as it became a state in 1959) of the U. S. at Hawaii, land too close to the Fundamentalists' homeland of the U. S. that God had wanted kept safe from invasion.

IV. With this vindication came Christ's warning that Fundamentalists hold to their Biblical stands without compromise lest they lose their stephanos (Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 774-775) their victor's crown, a HUGE need as many once Fundamentalist groups have since compromised their stands, Revelation 3:11.

V. Since they UPHELD the REPUTATIONS of the SCRIPTURE WRITERS by their FIVE STANDS, God would elevate Fundamentalist OVERCOMERS' REPUTATIONS FIVE WAYS, Rev. 3:12-13:

A. One - The overcomer would be made a "pillar" in God's "temple," the universal Church (2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 3:12a), a term used elsewhere of believers only in Galatians 2:9 where Peter, James and John gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul to evangelize Gentiles (stulos, Ibid., p. 779). God would make the overcomer a key sender of men to disciple worldwide, what occurred at 19th and 20th century upright seminaries and schools.

B. Two - The phrase "he will no more go out" refers to men like J. Gresham Machan of Westminster Sem. or Lewis S. Chafer of Dallas Sem. who left mainline denominations or started schools without their support, so these men would be honored of God to afford to stay in their newly started schools, a promise well fulfilled.

C. Three - To have the name of God written on the man indicates he would be called a "man of God," Rev. 3:12c.

D. Four - The name of the city of God, the new Jerusalem, is given in Ezekiel 48:35 as "The Lord Is There," meaning believers would highly respect the institution or church where the godly man or men ministered.

E. Five - Christ's new name written on the overcomer is defined in Isaiah 62:2 with v. 4 and v. 12 as "My Delight Is In Her," "Married," "Sought Out" where especially young men would seek out Zion to unite with her in the future Kingdom, Isaiah 62:5. This illustrates the history of various schools, especially Dallas Seminary, where many young men aimed to go to that institution for the best training available in the world on expounding God's Word, making it at one point the world's largest independent seminary! The reason they sought it was the reputations of men like Dr. John F. Walvoord and J. Dwight Pentecost. [For me this was also fulfilled in attending the Multnomah School of the Bible for undergraduate work in being exposed to spiritual men like John G. Mitchell and Willard M. Aldrich and obtaining there a double major in Bible!]

Lesson: Christ called Fundamentalists who were opposed by Liberal Theology and evolutionary ideology to hold uncompromisingly to Scripture in the Holy Spirit's power for Christ's continued help, vindication and honor.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for eternal salvation, John 3:16. (2) May we rely on the Holy Spirit's power to hold uncompromisingly to Scripture truth in facing Liberal Theology and evolutionary ideology.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

We rely on the Holy Spirit to adhere to the Biblical stands of Pure Creationism, Christ's Virgin Birth, Christ's Bodily Resurrection, Scripture's Inerrancy, the Substitutionary Atonement and Christ's Imminent [Premillennial], Physical Second Coming, and to keep holding these Biblical stands for God's continued blessing.