Address—Bruce Conrad
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From mostly spent most of our Christian lives on the East Coast of the US. Very happy to be further W now.
So with that behind us, let's begin our meeting by singing #166. Another thing I've learned over the years when you're not in your home territory is to let a more local brother start the tune so someone else could start #166.
Well, I would like to take up a little part of Revelation chapter 3.
In our home meeting, we have been in the Book of Revelation. We're about halfway through.
We went through these seven churches, as you would imagine, but we just kind of went through pretty briefly. I have never spoken on this portion before, but it is pressed upon my heart to take up.
In a certain manner, the 6th and the 7th churches to Philadelphia and Laodicea.
As the older brothers used to say when I was young, like these guys here, they would always tell us the well is deep and the well is indeed deep. It's infinitely deep and so.
Make apologies at the beginning. We're going to touch just the tops of the waves here as we go through. My burden, really, with respect to Philadelphia is the opened door.
OPENED past tense, opened door. And then as we'll see the Lord willing, as we get to the end of the chapter with Laodicea, we see that there's another door and someone standing by it. And so with that in mind, let's just read to start with from verses 7 through.
Through 13 to read about Philadelphia and and try to budget my time to afford proper time to.
Loud to see as well.
And perhaps you've heard people speak about Laodicea before and it's been a lot of doom and gloom. I, I really don't have it on my heart to have a doom and gloom meeting tonight.
As we say, but there are very serious things that are before us in these, in these, in this passage.
We are familiar in the New Testament with the apostles who were used to write the Word of God warning us even before they were off the scene that perilous times would come.
And John, the apostle John said it's the last hour, there are many antichrists around. When Paul wrote to Timothy in the first epistle, even he spoke a word of warning to him about the latter times. And there would be seducing spirits, doctrines of demons.
And amplified that in the second epistle. So it's been this way, which is rather unique when you stop and think about it, for almost 2000 years. But I'm not sure there is a more pointed passage in the Word of God.
Then the end of Revelation chapter 3, where the Spirit of God has put before us sequentially 7 assemblies that existed in that time and what we today would call Turkey.
And there were seven literal assemblies there, and they each had their challenges. And most everyone in this room knows that as we look back now from the vantage point of almost 2000 years since the day of Pentecost, that the Christian testimony is seen sequentially to a certain extent in these seven churches. And so the address to the assembly at Laodicea is especially poignant for us. It's the.
Time in which we live.
And so, Lord willing, will carve some time out to get to that. But first to start with with Philadelphia in verse seven, and to the Angel of the church in Philadelphia, right 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 and opened door. That's the way that should read.
No man can shut it.
Thou hast a little strength, and has kept my word, and it's not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which they they are Jews, and are not but to lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
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Because thou has 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, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear with the Spirit saith.
Unto the churches.
When we come to the address to Philadelphia in these two chapters, chapters 2:00 and 3:00.
We come to an assembly that is not characterized by anything that would be, to outward eye, very dramatic.
The Lord Jesus presents himself and has presented himself in the first five churches in different ways, largely official when he when we come to Philadelphia, he presents himself in a very simple but essential way as to his, how do we put it, his character, his person.
His inward nature, He's the Holy One and the True.
And he has the key of David.
And you say, and I've been pondering for a number of years, what is the key of David? If you go back and trace it back into Isaiah, I think it's a 22nd chapter. You read about a key of David that is on his shoulder. What kind of a key do you wear upon your shoulder? It's, it's, it's ponderous. And it seems to imply if we took the time to go back there, it seems to imply that.
David is the one who is going to exert for God's glory governmental power.
Over all things for His glory.
And yet, if you read the personal history of David, he got to a point where his enemies were at rest around him.
He's sitting there at peace as king. He's sitting in a prosperous house, no longer in a cave or or fleeing like a dog from Saul. And he says I dwell in a House of cedar.
And he was exercised and he said, I have this house. I want to build the Lord a house. And so he says to Nathan, his prophet, he says, Nathan, I want to build the Lord a house. Nathan says, oh, good idea. Yeah, do that.
Sometimes the way we are with one another, we understand that well, that night the Lord spoke to Nathan and said thus saith the Lord, and I'm paraphrasing, forsake of time. You go tell David that he's not going to build me a house.
I'm gonna build him a house. Only David is not going to build the house for me. It's going to be one that comes out of his own bowels. His son is going to build me a house. And David doesn't appear to have just he accepted that from the Lord, and I'm just touching on that portion very lightly. But David seemed to accept that from the Lord, and he didn't just say, oh, well, I'm just going to go along and maybe I'll build myself another house.
He he began to accumulate treasures.
And resources. And under David's administration there was, what was it, 100,000 talents of gold, a million talents of silver, timber and stone without number. All these treasures, as I picture it, all under David's control. And those were.
Under his control, so that one who did come from his own loins, who would be?
Of the name of Solomon would build that house a glorious house. So when you first read in verse.
7.
The key of David, he that Opeth no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. It gives you the thought there's kind of a coming and going there. But I believe that the point is clarified to me in verse eight. I know thy works. In other words, I know you guys.
I know you.
And consequently I've set in front of you before you and opened door.
This beautiful, and by that I take it that the Philadelphian Saints now had access into these treasures that would be manifest to everyone in the coming day.
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And I believe this is a portion spiritually for you and for me.
I keep thinking of that passage in Matthew 13. I'm going to read it.
Matthew 13.
Strikes me more and more.
The Lord Jesus laying out before men a new thing that he was doing in sewing.
He explains a certain characteristic of a parable, which is to reveal and to hide.
Parables have that.
Characteristic both characteristics.
And he says to them in verse 16, But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.
For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them.
There are no doubt a lot of young people in here.
And you have never known anything other than meeting.
And you're going to have to go through a period of time where you really evaluate what it is that in the Providence of God you've been connected with. Some of us did not have that privilege, and our history is different.
But either way.
The Spirit of God would lead us to realize that the things that you and I have been exposed to in this book are things that righteous men, prophets down through the centuries, wish they could have seen but did not.
I've heard Brother Bill here speak about John Chapter 2.
And quote that comment that the governor made. Thou hast kept the good wine until now.
And you and I have the privilege to understand and to enjoy the most precious things that have ever been in the Council of God.
And that is quite something.
For 2000 years.
I should say for about 1800 years, maybe 1700 and 1700 years.
And there was has been such a dearth.
In the Christian testimony as to the understanding of the precious things of Christ.
And of how?
What the Apostle Paul speaks of as the great mystery of Christ in the Church.
What God would be doing between the time of His sufferings and the times of His glory.
Was a mystery hidden God not even in the Old Testament scriptures.
But in these special times in which you and I live, this mystery has now been revealed.
And we have it before us.
And your mind, And my mind was fashioned.
And our mouths and our lips and our hearts were fashioned for that very exalted understanding. You look around at what people do today. You look around at what people invent, whether it's these iPhones or whether it's you name it, at any technical field. It is amazing what men do.
And young people like, like so many of you, you go to school and you learn very complex concepts in science and mathematics and, and all kinds of things.
But the amazing mind and consciousness that God created man to have and that you have.
Its highest calling, and that for which it was especially made, is to enjoy the precious things in this in this book.
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Nothing higher than that.
When I was saved about a year.
I grew up outside of Philadelphia.
I got saved somewhere far away, came back to visit, went to the little meeting in Glenside, PA. Some of you have probably been there.
And there was an older brother there. I'll just tell you his name, no secret. His name is Ralph Reeb.
He's still still living in Pennsylvania.
And.
Somewhat of a shorter man, impeccably dressed in a beautiful suit. He did something complicated with business, is all I knew at the time, like mergers and acquisitions. And they they paid him for his brains and he was coming. He'd come to meeting from work.
And at one point he looked across at US 20 somethings and he had his Bible in his hand and he said.
Young men, you should never know more about anything than you know about this book.
He had tears in his eyes.
Some of his sons were sitting there with me.
Well, I registered it. I took it in.
OK, got it. Good advice.
And then I'm sitting in my study 45 years later.
And it just keeps coming back.
A bunch of other things too.
And I feel that's a true statement.
I'm appreciative of the opportunity I have to join a lot of younger brothers on assembly, reading meetings on Zoom. Some of them are my sons, some boys that grew up with our family and others.
Bright young men.
And my concern for them.
As we go through the scriptures and I, we just we and the other older one or two which encourage them to ask questions, turn your camera on.
Ask a question if you think we're, if you're just, we're just talking into space and not making sense and you're not grasping me and say, hey, stop. What do you mean by that? We try to encourage honest questions so that we know what people are taking in and what, what's the leading edge of what they see so we can help them on.
These young brothers, some of them are just brilliant young professionals.
One of them is in a field that I was in and I know this kid is brilliant.