"The Drums of Philadelphia" If one listens carefully, with his ear toward the horizon of the not too distant past, he can hear the fading concord drums of the Philadelphia Church. I caution you not to panic. They may be fading, they may even appear to be drowning at times, but they are not dead. They will not be altogether silent until Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom. These are the drums that convoyed the Christian soldiers of yesteryear, those that marched in the formidable ranks of God's Philadelphia militia. They call to us today to hear and to follow… The drums summoned the old and the young alike, the poor and the rich, the well and the infirm, the literate and illiterate, the well-taught and the uneducated, the saint and the sinner from the first century right up through the sneaky crawl and muddy footprints of the apostates in the late 1970s, who were preparing the way for “change” (sound familiar?). In a short time we witnessed the arrival and the total unveiling of the Laodicean Church as apostate leaders began to assume their specific roles in the early 1980s… It was then that the assault on America’s Judeo/Christian roots gained the momentum it needed to drive the sword into the heart of truth, and fray the holiness that guarded that truth… Philadelphia was the newest of the seven Asia Minor cities where seven Christian churches were designated by Christ to represent the character and spiritual health of the church throughout the whole of the church-age. Through the aged Apostle John, in 90 A.D. Jesus sent letters to all seven churches, expressing his love, his knowledge and commendations of their works. He also expressed rebuke, warnings and correction. There was only one church He did not rebuke… The Church of Philadelphia represented the faithful church...the church with the “open door” to evangelize the world. It is the church that has kept His Word, the Church that has not denied His name (authority). It is the only church that Christ promises to deliver out of the hour of temptation that shall come to try the men on the earth (Rev.3:10). In His letter to the Philadelphia Church, Christ promises to make the one that overcomes the world a pillar in the temple of His God. He will write upon him the name of His God (showing ownership), the name of the city of His God (showing heavenly citizenship), and the Lord’s new name (showing co-heirship with Christ). It is a guarantee of eternal security in Christ to those that overcome. We are to hold fast to that which we have and let no man take our crown. Verse 11 confirms the promise in Verse 10 to deliver the faithful from the wrath to come, and further reveals this will take place at the return of Jesus Christ for his church (the rapture). No other church received this promise… As recent as the 14th century, when the Moslems invaded and overran Asia Minor, the city of Philadelphia, still standing after all those centuries, resisted far longer than any other city and became a city of refuge for Christianity. Seedlings of the church had for centuries been planted in distant corners all over Europe, but they were carried forth quietly. Sometimes, because of severe persecution and the threat of certain death for any professing Christian, especially under Rome’s Flavian dynasty and afterward, during the spiritual and political reign in Europe of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the precious seeds of the Philadelphia Church were planted underground. The miracle remains that the charge from Jesus was kept… Consequently, during the reprehensible Papal reign over corrupt kings and their corrupted nations, the Philadelphia Church was hidden in mere pockets here and there in different corners of the then-known world. Only with God’s abiding Grace did the Church survive the spiritual toxins of a dozen centuries. Not even the Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment could guarantee safe sanctuary from the legalistic barbarians of Rome’s iron-fisted tutelage. Nevertheless, taking the risk, many brave clerics arose in Europe to establish havens of Protestant worship. Some were martyred as heretics, blasphemers or sorcerers. Others marched on to the sound of the drums… Then, in keeping with the destiny of the Church, humble men who held these doctrines to be the living and unchangeable Word of God, crossed the troubled seas to embrace the promise of an incomparable religious freedom… While European nations struggled with land grabs, naval wars, piracies on the high seas, heavy tax burdens and governments who cared nothing for the poor, the widowed or the orphaned, and even less for world peace, America was a baby just learning to walk and she would find the strength she needed by holding onto the fingers of God. God gave America strong leaders that also held onto His fingers and when, at times, all seemed in danger of being lost, God sent His Word and healed their dreams. America had so many heroes and heroines she couldn’t count them all. And she had the brightest and bravest of military ranks and political leaders, all loyal to God and to Country, and, except for a Benedict Arnold here and there, every patriot was a watchman on the wall, whether he was part of the militia or a farmer in the field with one hand on the plow and the other on his gun. They were all of one mind, one spirit and one dream. America grew up with the Church of Philadelphia in her room and by her side. They were inseparable. One could not run for pubic office unless he was of known and acceptable Christian character. One could not teach school unless he/she was a Christian since Bible was taught as a school curriculum. The Church was built upon the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets, but America was built upon the foundation of the Philadelphia Church. As a nation, we have not always been without rebuke. There have been times when we (our people and our leaders) needed a good spanking. But we have spared no grit in protecting and spreading the Good News around the world. All too often the worldly, more secular churches have influenced the thoughts and intents of our leaders and our peoples, but when the smoke cleared or the fog lifted, depending on the intensity of the debate, we remained a nation “under God”… We have known for many years, we couldn’t keep it that way without a fight. We are not dummies, we know the prophecies, and we know they are not conditional, they will happen as they are written. We would be challenged, pushed aside, overwhelmed by the spirit of antichrist, but as lights that shine for Christ, we would be as lit candles set upon the hills of America – indeed in mountain pockets all over the world – until Jesus comes… In the meantime we would occupy…the day of the destroyers would come soon enough… Then one day a generation came along that decided the “Ole Time Religion” was antiquated, dull and out of touch with the modern world. They abolished the counsel of the Gospel. They abolished the altar calls for salvation, restoration of the backslidden, and prayer for the sick. They even did away with the call for repentance. They turned their backs on the warnings of such preachers as Billy Sunday, Maria Woodworth Etter, Amy Simple McPherson, A.A. Allen, Smith Wigglesworth, Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, J. Vernon McGhee and a host of others God had sent into the world. They even turned their backs on the scriptural warnings of Jesus Christ… They ignored the trumpet sounds of the watchmen, the drums of the faithful and the Word itself that prophesied the fateful break with the Philadelphia Church. If that were not enough, they rejected and cast away the classical old hymns that had been sung through centuries of weeping and rejoicing saints. If one listens with the heart to the time-honored strains of the beloved Philadelphia hymns, they were belly grabbers, tear jerkers, cries of conviction and parcels of praise. They broke the heart and tore down all resistance. They divided the soul from the flesh and lifted the fog from every doubting Thomas. The beautiful old hymns were never written to entertain the flock or the curious, rather each hymn, in its own way is a testimony, a joyous praise, a doorway to worship or a bold witness of a very real and a very personal redemptive Grace. The Laodiceans were offended by the mention of an old rugged cross, a picture of crucifixion that frightened the little children. They were offended by the blood that was shed, saying it was gross, that it represented violence and should be eliminated. They questioned the deity of Jesus Christ and the sovereign authority of God’s everlasting Word. This is the Church of Laodicea, the end-times apostate church that is drawing millions away from the truth. I daresay the little children see more violence than the crucifixion of Christ on television and we don’t hear their parents ranting and raving about that. They see more bloody scenes on television than they will ever see in the Holy Land but I don’t hear their parents ranting and raving about that. (And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues”(Rev.18:4).) Jesus said they would be so lukewarm He would spit them out of His mouth. In other words, they would be nauseating, like a gulp of lukewarm water in the heat of harvest… I visited an independent Baptist church where only the praise leaders sang during praise and worship. The congregation did not sing - they weren't moved to sing. And at the end of the service there was no altar call… I suggested after the service that they might love the old hymns and I would be happy to pay for half the order - the pastor insisted they would not like the old hymns - they were outdated - and it would be a wasted purchase. I cringed and trembled, offended for the old saints that had marched to the drums and sang the old hymns that brought the glory down to those that revered the awesome visitations. It is one more proof we are in the last days. When the Laodicean Church opened its doors and drew its deadly sword, we knew we were the last Church to witness to the world before Jesus returns. There is no other Church era except the Laodicea Church which will evolve into the one-world church that will be established and governed by the false prophet during the seven years of tribulation. It will be a pagan religion, like the Babylonian cult of Nimrod’s day. Men will worship the sun and the moon. They will hate the seekers of the truth and those that walk in the light of that truth. They will kill off all opposition… When Jesus gave John the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, (Rev. 2-3) the Philadelphia Church was the only church he commended without a single rebuke or criticism. Exactly nineteen centuries later, from 90 A.D. when the letters were given, to 1990 A.D. when the apostasy began, the guards of the flock deserted their posts and the watchmen on the wall fled the tower… In the 1980s Satan had entered the sanctuary and enticed the congregants to re-enter the gorgeous, fast-moving and prospering world. In desperation the church changed course to try and win them back, but in so doing, they misplaced the living Gospel. By the 1990s, the message of the Kingdom that had drawn sinners to Christ since the days John preached it at the River Jordan, could not be heard or recognized. The Philadelphia Church began listening to the voices of the world that wanted change, tuning out the voice of God that was pleading with them to hold steady – and they grew weaker because they grew weary and negligent. They failed to re-post the guards. They failed to treasure the treasury of souls they had been entrusted with. They failed - until there was but a remnant left – in some places a scattered remnant, nevertheless a remnant lives and once again it lives in pockets and in fellowships all over this world. In some parts of the world the Philadelphia Church is growing again rather quickly. In other parts of the world the drums are heard again in the hearts of God’s people and so we determine we will not fail again. We will not! We will follow Jesus, the way, the life and the truth. We will follow the drums, the leading of the Spirit and the trumpet of the watchmen. We will listen, we will hold fast and we will overcome. With those that marched in the Philadelphia militia, long ago and not so long ago, we too will march to the beat of the Savior’s heart… Joan Krempel
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