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Subject 10 : The Revelation (Commentaries on the Revelation)

[Chapter 3-4] The Servants and Saints of God Who Please His Heart (Revelation 3:7-13)

The Servants and Saints of God Who Please His Heart(Revelation 3:7-13)
 
There Still Are Churches Like the Philadelphian Church in This World
 
God tells us here that among the seven churches in Asia, the church most commended and loved by the Lord was the Church of Philadelphia.
In today’s era also, we can see that God, who spoke to the seven churches in Asia, wants His churches to be like the Church of Philadelphia, to work through them and be pleased by them. Even in today’s time, the churches that are commended by God are preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Now as then, the saints who are faithful to God, even if their ability is limited, belong to the churches that spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God is pleased by such workers. None of them may be able to drive out the demons with the laying on of their hands or to prophesy. Neither may anyone of them be particularly gifted with their speaking, nor endowed with the power of persuasion. The only thing that they do is that they believe and are preaching that Jesus alone has cleansed away all our sins once and for all by taking upon the sins of mankind on Himself with His baptism received from John, and that all our judgment of sin was passed onto Christ with His blood on the Cross.
These workers are no more than the believers who follow the Lord, worship Him, and obey His will with their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit are not materially rich. Nor do they have any other gift. All that they have is their faith and passion for preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They believe that doing this work of spreading the gospel is what pleases the Lord’s heart, for the Lord was indeed baptized by John, crucified on the Cross, and rose from the dead again to make all our sins disappear. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit only thank the Lord and follow Him alone.
All that we want is for this gospel of the water and the Spirit to be spread to everyone, and for everyone to be delivered from all their sins. God has wondrously allowed us to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world, and He has blessed us so that many fruits would be born. And He has also given us the faith with which we can embrace our martyrdom in the end times, and the blessing of our rapture and life in the Millennial Kingdom. God has allowed us to be martyred for the Lord, and He has allowed us to take part in the first resurrection and be clothed in the glory of Heaven.
Those of us who are now dedicated to the preaching of the gospel of the water and the Spirit belong to God’s beloved church.
Let us think about how we can spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. God told His churches that the door to the preaching of the gospel has already been opened. Because no one can stop what God has set, He will most certainly fulfill everything.
God has allowed those of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to preach this gospel of His baptism to the entire world. Even today, His churches are still blessed to work for the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit on this earth. When looking at their individual ability, they may be full of shortcomings. But because in their hearts is found their love for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God holds them steadfast and works through them.
That there are still churches like these in this world is a great hope for the world. To them God has entrusted the work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and He has also made sure that no one can stop what they do. They are preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to everywhere in the world, and this gospel is thus being spread throughout the entire world. God strengthens them, protects them, and works with them. We will now see that God blesses those who unite themselves to this work and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the nations of the world, both spiritually and physically.
We are preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to every corner of this world with our paper and electronic books. We do this to the end of this world, and the Lord will also continue to work through us until the Kingdom of Christ is fulfilled on this earth. God will enable us to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the 6.5 billion people of the world with our literature. May God bless us all!
For us to do the works that please God, we must always prepare for spiritual war. As such, I ask God that He holds strong and blesses all His servants. There is no one who is as faithful as our Lord. I believe that there is no other truth in this world, not even one, that can bring to us the clear and perfect salvation that the true gospel that we believe in, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, has brought to us.
 
 
The Book of Revelation Is the Blessed Word of God Given to Those Who Overcome
 
God told us, “to him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life.” This truth means that God will allow such people to live in His Millennial Kingdom. “He who overcomes” here refers to those who defend their faith by fighting against the Antichrist with the truth in the end times, and, for today’s times, those who fight against and overcome the followers of the false gospel with their faith in the Word of truth. We must overcome evil with good by preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the whole world. We must struggle against and overcome all the liars and false doctrines by our faith in the Word of the water and the Spirit.
To fight against and overcome the liars, we must always ruminate on the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. If we had believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit now and were cleansed of all our sins, our struggle against the liars would thus have begun from this very moment. Those who believe in the true gospel fight against and overcome those who have the false gospel.
We must always preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to such followers of the false gospel. Why? Because the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit can destroy their false faith and bring to them new life. The Bible tells us to overcome evil with good. As such, we must never give up our good fight of spirituality that saves these souls from their sins.
In our spiritual fight is found the blessing of the salvation of souls. By always fighting against and overcoming the liars with our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can give all the fruits of eternal life to God.
 
 
The Lord Told Us to Learn from the Parable of the Fig Tree
 
The fig tree symbolizes the nation of Israel. As each nation has its national flower or tree, for Israel it is the fig tree that symbolizes it. You must realize that when Israel grows thick in leaves, the end times would have come very near to the world. The Bible tells us that the Lord will return when the nation of Israel is rebuilt on this earth and becomes powerful.
In these days the newspapers are full of the stories covering the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Israel is now in possession of its historical territory and has become a great power. The future of Israel now all depends on God. Whether Israel rises or falls in the future will all be fulfilled according to the Word of God. And when Israel disappears from this earth, you must realize that this is when the second coming of the Lord is fulfilled on this earth. As the Bible says that the Lord will return when the leaves of the fig tree grow thick, He foretells the end of this world through the restoration and prosperity of Israel. Also foretelling the end times will be the disasters that plague the natural environment of the world.
God told everyone to have and keep the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All purposes of God are focused on the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As such, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are saved from all their sins. The Lord told us, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). With our own strength, we cannot escape from the Tribulation that is to come. But by believing in the Word of God, we can overcome it. We now find ourselves in a situation where we must prepare our faith of martyrdom for the time of the Tribulation nearing us.
If Christians think that they themselves will not be in the Great Tribulation when the end times come, their faith is greatly mistaken. We must not believe in the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture. This doctrine departs from the truth of the Bible, for the Scripture, especially from the Book of Revelation, tells us that the martyrdom of the saints will come when the first three and a half years of the seven-year period of the Tribulation have passed. For the saints, to think that they will not enter into the seven-year period of the Great Tribulation will lead them to a very dangerous and misconceived faith. You must realize that those who believe in Jesus will be in the middle of the Great Tribulation.
In consideration of the overall Word of God, how long will the righteous remain in this world? They will remain on this earth until Satan demands the sinners to receive his mark and the saints are martyred by the Antichrist’s army. This is the truth revealed by God, and the proper faith.
 
 

The Great Spiritual Fight to Come in the End Times

 
The result of the righteous’ faith is clearly demonstrated in the Great Tribulation permitted by God. You must realize that without your faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you will not gain the true victory in your fight against Satan in the end times. But at the same time, you must also realize clearly that the final victory will belong to the righteous, as with their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit they will become the true winners even as the end of the world nears. As such, we must complete the work of preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world before the arrival of the end times.
We must please our Lord by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have with us the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Word of faith that can give us the final victory. God is clearly foretelling the world of its demise. We must also realize that the Lord will return at that time, that He will lift up the saints to heaven, and that He will bring great woes to those who still remain in this world until then. As such, we must receive the end times by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, armed with the true faith. God has told those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to wait for the Millennial Kingdom in faith, just as He said in Noah’s time that the end of the world would come while people were eating and drinking.
Without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, people cannot solve all the problems of the end times of the world. By all means, we must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who do not believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot possibly be tolerated by God at all. God will bring the most fearful plagues to this world in the final stage of the end times. Because those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot escape from the righteous judgment of God, they must believe in this gospel now.
To avoid God’s judgment, therefore, it is absolutely necessary for everyone to learn about the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it with all his/her heart. The truth of salvation that is imperative for everyone is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There is no other true gospel before God but this gospel of the water and the Spirit. More than ever before, this world now has the indispensable need for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, for it lives deep in sin with its culture of sin.
As there is no longer any guarantee for the future in this last era, people live everyday committing sins and pursuing only their pleasure. The true hope for mankind is found in the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and only this Word can give us our true hope. Yet this world has become a world that does not seek after God. As you are sinful and will soon be judged by God for your sins, you must believe with all your heart in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus. You will then be able to be delivered from the fearful judgment of God. The Bible is admonishing everyone to repent of their sins, return to God, and receive the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The end of the world is a time when people will, having eaten and slept in sin, enter into the lake of fire and brimstone without even realizing it.
People must receive their salvation from sin given by God, but without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit, how could they be delivered from their sins? Everyone must know that he/she is to receive the fearful judgment of God because of his/her sins, and realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the truth of redemption and the Word of blessing.
The Bible does not tell us on what exact day and hour the end of the world will come. Hiding the hour of the world’s demise is God’s wisdom. Were God to reveal this hour of the end, it would bring great misfortunes. This is why God hid the judgment day from the people. But when the time set by God comes, everything will be fulfilled by Him, and a whole new world will begin.
God said in the main passage, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” This Word is God’s promise that He will deliver the saints from the seven plagues that will come to this world after their martyrdom. This does not mean, however, that He will exempt the saints from being martyred or persecuted by the Antichrist in the end times. A vast number of people will face the fearful judgment of God for not having believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and not having received the remission of their sins. As a result, their sinful souls will fall into hell. But God will allow martyrdom to the saints earlier, for this martyrdom is what will deliver them from the terrifying plagues.
 
 
What Kind of Mark Will People Receive in the End Times of the Tribulation?
 
The Bible tells us that people will receive the mark bearing the name of the Antichrist. But the Word of Revelation also tells us that those who receive the mark of the Antichrist’s name on their foreheads or right hands will be thrown in the lake of fire and brimstone. By receiving this mark of the Antichrist’s name, they would have forever turned into the servants of Satan. The lake of fire and brimstone is reserved for those who have sin.
The era of grace, when people can be saved from their sins through faith, is now passing away. The Bible records that a countless number of martyrs will rise in the end times. Because the names of these martyrs are written in the Book of Life, they will automatically reject the mark of the Antichrist’s name.
God tells us that those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit will all be martyred at this time. They will be martyred in their refusal to receive the mark of Satan. Those who have become righteous must not fear the martyrdom of the end times, but rather, they must thank God for the Millennial Kingdom that awaits them after their martyrdom.
Because receiving the mark of the Antichrist’s name is a treasonous act that betrays our Lord, we must reject it. We can all rise to our martyrdom, for keeping our faith in God in this time is to give glory to God. Our Lord has told us that He will give the saints the strength to overcome all difficulties.
 
 

How and Until When Should the Church of God Preach the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit?

 
For how long has our Lord allowed us to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit? The answer is until the time of our martyrdom in the Great Tribulation. God has flung the door of the preaching of the gospel wide open for the righteous, so that they may preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit until then. Until this time of their martyrdom, the righteous will continue to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This will then be followed by the terrifying plagues on this earth.
Right now, the righteous and the sinners alike live surrounded by the beautiful nature given by the Lord. Until the arrival of the Tribulation’s time, the righteous must keep their faith pure and wait for the Lord, having preached all the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The righteous need to cultivate the farming of the gospel.
In the end times, when the mark of the Beast is forced upon us, we must fight against and overcome the worldly people with our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by our Lord. When we are martyred by the Antichrist in the end times, our faith would have triumphed. All lives of the righteous depend on the Lord. If they believe in the Word of the Lord, that He will keep them from the hour of trial, and preach the gospel until the end of the world, God will give them the life of victory. The righteous must preach the gospel of true salvation to everywhere, today and tomorrow.
We must all wait for the return of our Lord and be faithful to Him for the rewards that await us when the Millennial Kingdom is brought to us. When the Lord returns to this earth, the Millennial Kingdom will be given to the righteous. The righteous will then be clothed in the glory of God together with the Lord.
But for now, we must continue to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit while on this earth, until the very last moment when we no longer are able to do so. The gospel that saves sinners from their sins, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, is the gospel of the true redemption of sin.
Having lived until the end of the world while preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit on this earth, the righteous will meet the Lord, reign for a thousand years, and when the Millennial Kingdom is over, enter into the eternal Kingdom of God and live with the Lord forever. I thank the Lord in faith. We should thank the Lord even more for giving us this hope.
  
 
The Church of Philadelphia Was the Lord’s Especially Beloved Church That, Though Having Only a Little Strength, Did Not Deny the Name of Jesus and Followed the Will of God
 
God gave this Church of Philadelphia His special blessing of being spared from the hour of trial. This blessing is the blessing of the remission of sin, of living in the Millennial Kingdom, and of becoming the owners of the eternal Kingdom of God. Christians who still remain as sinners will be shut out from God’s blessings. But the righteous will reign for a thousand years.
The Lord will lift up the saints from this earth through their martyrdom, and then pour down the utmost plagues of tribulations on this world. God will do so to discern the good from the evil, and judge and destroy the sinners. God loves the righteous, particularly those who, though with only a little strength, keep His Word and preach the gospel until the end of the world. The saints who had such faith and who belonged to such churches were truly blessed. God was pleased by these righteous saints.
God says that He will reward those who fight against and overcome Satan by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all their hearts.
There are many Christians on this earth who claim to believe in Jesus and yet are deceived by Satan. The work of salvation, which delivered all the sinners from their sins with the coming of Jesus on this earth, was achieved by His two righteous works. The faith in these works of salvation believes that He took upon all the sins of the world on Himself with His baptism at the Jordan River, and that He completed this work of salvation by carrying these sins of the world to the Cross, being judged for these sins with His own blood. This is the gospel of salvation, the gospel of the remission of sin that has saved the sinners.
But those who lack in faith have become “the ones who claim to be sinless without believing in the baptism of Jesus.” Such faith is false. Some people, on the other hand, claim that no one else loves Jesus as much as they do, but at the same time they describe themselves as sinners. But our Lord never allows anyone other than those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit into Heaven. He does not write the names of sinners in His Book of Life. Only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are written in the Lord’s Book of Life.
The salvation from sin given by God is not acquired by “what one does,” but rather it can only be acquired by “what one believes in.” In this faith, the first consideration is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior, and secondly, to believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross as the whole and indispensable acts for our salvation. And we must also believe in the resurrection of Christ and His second coming.
Matthew 7:21-23 say, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Why will Jesus deny these people? Because those with sin cannot be written in the Lord’s Book of Life. Nowadays there are many who profess to believe in Jesus as their Savior, but many of them do not believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John.
As such, their names are not written in the Book of Life. Yet these sinners try to get into the Kingdom of the Lord even as they are carrying all their sins. They, however, cannot enter it. Some people are so brave that they believe they can enter Heaven even if they still have sin. Such people believe not in the salvation offered by God, but in their own version made up in their pride. Those whose faith is false do not believe that Jesus is God, neither in the fact that Jesus took upon the sins of the world on Himself with His baptism, nor that He carried all these sins to the Cross. These people merely consider and believe Jesus as only one of the four great sages of the world. Such people are sinners even if they believe Jesus as their Savior. The Lord, however, does have something to give to these sinners. “But what?” you might ask. Well, none other than hell awaits them!
We the righteous, whose sins have been forgiven, must fight against and overcome the liars until the end of the world with our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What the righteous believe in is not a corruptible truth. Until the day of the Lord’s return, we can never give up our faith in the true gospel with which we believe in our Lord, no matter what anyone says. The true Word in which the righteous believe is received from God personally. It is testified by the Word of God. God Himself spoke it in person. God personally promised the remission of our sin. The righteous was saved from all their sins and became whole by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His Cross. Is there anything important or worthy in what the sinners are saying about us? None at all! The righteous must keep their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit by believing in the Word of God.
Now is the time of natural disasters, and in not too distant future, nuclear war will also come to this earth. And the natural disasters are set to span out in a far greater catastrophic scale. The servants of God must see clearly what is coming to this world and preach it. You must realize that the end of the world can come all of a sudden. When nuclear war breaks out in the world, natural disasters reach an unprecedented height, and the mark of the Beast is thrust upon us—that is, when the time for our martyrdom and resurrection, and of the building of the Millennial Kingdom comes—this is the time of Christ’s return to this earth. All things happen and are completed by the Lord.
No matter what anyone says, we must believe in the Word of God until the end of the world and keep this faith. In following the Lord, regardless of the hardships, we must definitely keep and spread our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Let us live our lives while hoping for the Lord’s Day. Let us prepare the sinners for their forgiveness of sin with the gospel of the water and the Spirit! I believe that our Lord has already prepared all the blessings of Heaven reserved for the righteous and is waiting for us. We must prepare for that day before the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of the saints actually arrive. Stop complaining about how empty your life is, and instead believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When you already know the gospel of truth, how could you choose to end up in hell by refusing to believe in it? Instead of falling into despair over the emptiness of life, we must prepare for the Millennial Kingdom by being delivered from all our sins through the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. After having lived our lives with the kind of faith that, just like that of the Church of Philadelphia, is commended by God, we will surely meet our Lord in the air! Hallelujah!
 
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.
Commentaries and Sermons on the Book of Revelation - IS THE AGE OF THE ANTICHRIST, MARTYRDOM, RAPTURE AND THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM COMING? (I)