Traveling backwards through Revelation three, the next church we come to on our journey is that of Philadelphia in verses 7 through 13.

This, my friends, is the church that you should want to be a part of. With a name that translates roughly to that of “brotherly love,” it is one of only two churches for which Jesus utters no condemnation. Indeed, along with Smyrna, these two churches are the only sister churches of these chapters, with Smyrna pouring out her blood under strains of heavy persecution and Philadelphia continuing onward till the close of the church age and her departure in the rapture.

Now, we can call this the church of the rapture because it is to this church alone that the promise of the rapture is given, and this promise is found in verse 10, “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.” Two things about this promise need to be born in mind, the first being that it is a reward. The very first word in verse 10 is, “Because”; it is because of their performance that this promise is given. No. 2, this promise does not rule out the possibility of persecution. I know that it would be nice if we had peace till the rapture, but the passage says “to try them”; what they will be kept from will be the wrath God will pour out on a Christ rejecting world, not persecution for the cause of Christ. While Philadelphian churches are not the norm of our day, their lineage hails from those churches pushed into obscurity through persecution, first under the iron fist of the Roman empire, then that of the Roman and, later, Protestant churches. Historically, these churches rose from obscurity under the auspices of religious liberty and were known by a name given to them by their enemies: Baptist.

While many, and perhaps even most, Baptist churches of today have traded this heritage for a “mess of pottage,” we are more interested in who they were, and are, than by what name they are called.

The greatest hallmark of Baptist peoples down through the years has been that they have been people of God’s Book, the Bible. And, indeed, this is absolutely what Philadelphia was known for. The last half of verse 8 of our text says this: “For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and has not denied my name.”  Notice the phrase, “kept my word.”

Now the word “kept” is significant in two senses, the first being that of possession. The largest volume of textual evidence in the Greek language is known as the Received Text, and is called such because this is the text kept by believers through the onslaught of Bible burnings and persecution. They studied, memorized and copied it over and over again. Today, the King James Bible, alone, remains faithful to this text.

Though the Baptists did not give us the King James, it could well be called the Baptist Bible because of the second sense, that of obedience. Being people of God’s Book requires obedience to it, and by far the biggest issue under persecution was that of baptism. In the New Testament, the word translated baptism means to “immerse.” While it is clear in the Bible that baptism in no way effects salvation, that we baptize and how are points of obedience.

This persistence over baptism was also how these churches got their name. Initially called Ana-Baptists, they were accused by their enemies of baptizing people a second time.

Their response, however, was that an unscriptural (disobedient) baptism doesn’t count. Baptism that is scriptural is first of all believer’s baptism; a person must repent of their sins and turn to Christ for their salvation before baptism. And secondly, it must be the correct mode of baptism, immersion, because it portrays the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, something no other mode can do.

While no doubt there are those who are going to accuse me of making too much of the doctrine of baptism, it is a part of historical record that these people not only made a great deal of it, but they went to their graves because of it, many being given a permanent baptism with a millstone tied to their ankles at the bottom of a lake.

When was the last time you saw anyone, let alone a modern day church, so serious about obedience to God’s word? It’s because they are not people of God’s Book.

Until next time.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or rghamman@mtaonline.net.