Hold on to Jesus

Open and Closed Doors

Revelation 3:7-8 ESV

 

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

 

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.’”

 

Our God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit – is completely sovereign over all that he has made. He is absolutely in control over all things. Nothing happens unless God allows it to happen. And God’s plans can never be thwarted because he is God. So, if he opens a door, no human can shut it, and if he closes a door, no human can open it.

 

Now, this is encouraging to us as believers in Jesus Christ because that means that Satan cannot touch us unless God allows it, and God will give us the strength to endure and to be victorious over anything that Satan throws our way, if we will listen to the Lord, and if we will do what he says, and if we will resist Satan and not God, and if we will flee temptation.

 

This also means that we never are to fear any danger that might come against us. And this is critical that we get this, for daily we are being bombarded by the news media and on social media to be afraid of all sorts of things, and that if we don’t do whatever it is that they say that we need to do that some horrible thing is going to happen us. That is Satan talking.

 

Now, I am not saying that dangers are not out there lurking. They are. We have an enemy Satan who has an army on his side who are coming against us to harm us and with the purpose to defeat us and to kill us, if need be. So, this is real and we should take it seriously, but we should not be afraid. Instead we should pray and be wise and live godly and holy lives.

 

For, in reality, we are not going to thwart God’s plans, either. There is nothing that we can do to close any doors God has opened or to open any doors that he has closed. If God has a purpose in us being sick because he wants to use it in our lives to purify us, nothing we can do will stop us from being sick. But we should never try to put the Lord to the test.

 

The point here is that we don’t have to be afraid of threats or scare tactics or give way to fear and buy into things that are bad for us because we have been convinced that if we don’t that something worse will happen to us. We just need to trust the Lord with our lives, and commit our ways to him, and follow him in however he leads us, and tell Satan “NO!”

 

Of the Synagogue of Satan

Revelation 3:9 ESV

 

“’Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.’”

 

There is a group of people today calling themselves Christians who have formed what they call “churches,” but which are of human flesh and not of God, because they aren’t a result of people coming to genuine faith in Jesus Christ, but they are a result of business plans and marketing schemes. And they are focused on pleasing the world, and not on pleasing God.

 

For they plan their gatherings and their activities largely around meeting the felt needs of the people of the world and supplying the world with a Christianized version of what the world is offering them in the way of entertainment, music, socialization, activities, games, fun, motivational speakers, education, and entertainers disguised as preachers.

 

And since the people of the world are their target audience, they have also altered the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more palatable to human flesh so as not to offend the people of the world, because they want the people of the world to come back to their gatherings, and they want them to feel at home and non-threatened and not judged by Christians.

 

So, they are giving those who are serious about their walks of faith the message to “stay in your own lane” and to not saying anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable or judged, and they are telling them that they must teach this altered gospel now so as not to offend people, and if they do not comply then they are finding ways of persecuting them.

 

But one day they will realize what they have done, and they will realize that God loves those who follow him in truth and who do not compromise with the world, and they will be humbled by God before those who did not compromise but who continued in the faith despite being treated badly, and despite being rejected and persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

 

This does not imply, though, that they will have a change of heart.

 

You Have Kept My Word

Revelation 3:10 ESV

 

“’Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.’”

 

Now, there are different ways people are interpreting this verse. But if we look at the Greek interlinear, it appears that the word translated “from” has more of a meaning of from the interior outwards. What this means is that those of us who are keeping (obeying) his word about patient endurance he will keep during this time of trial so that we don’t sink under the pressure of the trials.

 

It is more about keeping us while we are under the trials or through them and not necessarily meaning that he will remove them from us. For his word teaches us that we will go through trials and that we will be persecuted, and hated, and mistreated, and falsely accused, and called names, and that some of us will be killed because we have kept the faith and we have not denied our Lord.

 

God’s grace will sustain us. He will carry us through it all, and he will help us so that we do not fall. He will give us all the strength we need to endure unjust suffering for the sake of his name, and he will empower us to keep on in our faith despite all opposition against us. For, believe me, we can’t endure such trials and such treatment without him.

 

Hold Fast to What You Have

Revelation 3:11-13 ESV

 

“’I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and 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 from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

 

Now, this is interesting, and it does present a challenge to those who think that we cannot lose our salvation. But if we have a true biblical understanding of our salvation we will understand that our salvation (like sanctification) is an ongoing process, and it won’t be complete until Jesus returns and he takes us to be with him for eternity.

 

Therefore, that is why so much of the New Testament is dedicated to instructions and warnings to the churches to not take God’s grace in vain, and to be careful that they don’t return to living in sin and miss out on their salvation. For, we don’t “get saved” and then we live our lives on this earth and then one day we die and we go to heaven.

 

The Scriptures teach that we must walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and that we are slaves of the one whom we obey, and if sin, then it leads to death, not to eternal life. And they teach that we must not be those who make sin our practice but righteousness is to be our practice, and we must walk in obedience to our Lord, for if we don’t, then we don’t have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

 

So, this is why we must hold fast to what we have, for heaven is not guaranteed us just on the profession of faith in our Lord but only on the stipulation (condition) that we continue in Christ and in his word and that we endure to the end and that we keep dying to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, and that we walk in obedience to our Lord, in his power and strength.

 

So, we must be conquerors. We must be those who endure trials and tribulations and temptations and who remain steadfast in our faith and who do not give way to Satan and who do not go back to our vomit but who hold fast to the faith that we have, which is evidenced by what we do, so that we do enter into eternal life with God when he comes to take us home.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians