The Church of Philadelphia

Brotherly Love,

Matthew 5:43, You have heard that it was said,"You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy'.

44, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

  Through out history mankind has been barbaric toward one another. For 1000's of years, men have fought in wars to try and take over the grass on the other side of the fence. Men have treated other men and women like herds of cattle or worse. And they still do in some places.
  Even in this century man has shown his dark side, in World War 1 and 2, millions of people died because some one man wanted it all.

  Jesus said in Matthew 16:26,"For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul ? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul ??

  So what if you did own the whole world?? It will all belong to someone else when you die. All the work you put into taking over the world will only be for a little while, so why bother with it all ?? The only thing you can take to the other side, is what you came here with your soul.

So why waste it on the earth, just so someone else can reap the harvest, AFTER, you are gone.

Jesus said to love you enemies,WHY? They need to see Him,in you, that;s why. When we are taught by the words of Jesus to love one another, and those who hate you, we begin to do as we are instructed. Jesus said that if we did not love those that hate us, and we did to them, what they did to us, then we would be no better that they are.

Jesus said to do to others as you would have them, do to you.

Example-- Lets say you are talking on the cell phone and you rear end a Lexus with your 88 Olds. The lady gets out of her car and walks back to yours. What would you want her to say to you, if she was the one in the Olds. If it were your turn to show what Jesus was talking about, what would you do?? Remember now, you are wanting her to talk to you, the way you want to be talked to.

Do you like being cussed at or yelled at? Do you like being told how stupid you are??

Treat others the way you want to be treated, no matter how they treat you.

We here in America have been taught for the most part, to do just this. We have gone to war with other countries, that have attacked us and killed many 1000's of innocent people. But when we get them in prison camps we have always treated them much better than they have treated us.

When the American troops were put in prison camps by the Japanese they were treated worse than dogs. If a soldier tripped and fell while doing his labor, the Japanese soldier would cut off his head with a sword, or just shoot him. Does the name Pearl Harbor & Patan death march ring a bell.

The German soldiers would stop and let the U S troops stretch their legs, they would say the soldiers tried to escape, then shoot them all.

The Vietnamese would starve the soldiers of other countries and kill them with out mercy.

But we, the Americans were taught from an early age that we should do to others, as we would have others to do us. So when we took soldiers from the enemy we did not do to them, as they did to us. The German soldiers that were taken from WW 2 were brought to America and put into prison camps. They were treated so well that many of them stayed here after the war.

So did many of the Japanese soldiers. Even while in the heat of battle, the Germans and the Japs, and the Veitnamese, and now the Ishlamic madmen will kill the American soldiers and then take photos of them like we would a 14 point white tail buck. They take the American soldiers and hang their bodies from bridges and drag them through the streets behind their cars. The Japs would make them work for hours a day and not give them any water or food, and if they ask for some they got shot, for doing so.

The American soldier on the other hand has been taught to act different. They when in the heat of battle will kill the enemy, until they either give up or die. But when they give up, they are treated as human beings, not trash. I saw a special on the soldiers in Iraq the other day. They came under attack by the insurgents, and while the insurgents were killing the Americans, the American feild doctors were treating the wounded insurgents. As they would wound one, they would treat him, right next to the American soldiers. Would the Al Qida do that? I think not.

I saw some video where some insurgents tried to ram their van into an army post. The soldiers there shot the van to pieces, then ran to pick up the bodies to see if they could save them. A freind was watching this with me and he said , why did they try and save the ? I said because that's who we are, if we acted the way they did, we would be no better than they are.

This act of decency is called treating your enemy like you would like to be treated. There is not a soldier anywhere that would like to be treated like a dog when captered by the enemy. This is called loving your fellow humanbeing or brother. Which brings me to the last part of this sermon.

Revelation 3:7"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is Holy, whois true, who has the key of david, who opens and no one shuts and no one opens, says this:

  8, 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have little power, and have kept My word; and have not denied My name.

9, "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 come to bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

10, '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.

11, 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown.  

12, He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it any more; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My GOd, and My new name.

13, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches'.

  Being saved from that hour of testing is also found in---
  -Jeremiah 30:7, 'Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble,But he will be saved from it.
 
Philadelphia means brotherly love. There is a city in Pennsylvania called Philadelphia, it is known as the city of brotherly love. Only the Christians from the United States of America keep the commandments of God, and the testmony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are the Church Jesus is talking to here, and we will be saved from the coming world war, that will kill 2 billion people. During this war, many of those who have rejected Christ, will se that all the things He has spoken of, is coming full circle, and then they will give their hearts to Jesus, so that may be saved.

Paul Frazier.