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Philadelphia.
The church at Philadelphia was located in a city now called Alasehir which means “the city of God.” It
is located in modern day Turkey. Philadelphia was once part of the Lydian Empire and was located about
125-150 miles (202 - 241 km) from the coast and about 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Sardis. The city was
founded by Attalus II Philadelphus (159-183 B.C.). It was once a fortress city. Later in A.D. 70-79 the
city was renamed Neocaesrea. This made the citizens unhappy. Later in this passage we will see that this
was significant. The church was active and spiritually great. It was eventually destroyed by the Turks
in A.D. 1392.
There are only a few ruins left where the city once existed.
A field is all that remains of a once proud acropolis. The
ruins of a theater have been discovered among the rubble
and only two columns of a very large ancient church remain.
Are these the columns of the ancient church referred to in
Revelation? If so, God has left a testimony about them with
us.
Success.
Because these Christians were committed to Him, He promised
that many Jews in the city of Philadelphia would want Jesus
to forgive their sins. Their desire was not church growth
but saved souls.
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Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan,
who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie -
behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your
feet, and to know that I have loved you. (NASB) Rev.
3:9
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These Jews would come to understand that these Christians were
correct. They finally discovered that these Christians were
not offensive to God but that He loved them.
God did not promise an end to their suffering but only that many souls would come to Jesus. Were these
followers of Jesus encouraged? I think they were because He gave them a new promise that they would not
suffer more pain and hardship from the future tribulation that is to come.
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Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I
also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour
which is about to come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell upon the earth. (NASB) Rev. 3:10
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This is the Tribulation Period that Jesus referred to in
the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
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