Scripture: Revelation 3 v 7 - 13: "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; 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;
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10 Because thou hast 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.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
12 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.
13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
In chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation Jesus wrote a letter to each of the seven churches of Asia Minor. Those are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatiran Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. These seven letters can be interpreted in several ways.
Firstly that the whole Body of Christ is expressed through each different church at any particular time in history. E.g. that the blessings and rebukes apply to different church groups in different countries across the world that may identify with them.
Laodicea is a church of worldly wealth that lacks vision and true commitment. Laodicea was famous for its eye salve that healed ailments of the eyes. In His letter to this church, Jesus made a play on words in verse 18
- "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."
Jesus is rebuking this church for its worldliness, causing it to be spiritually blind and catering only to entertaining the congregation without developing them into true disciples. In these last days this type of church is flourishing but the end result will be apostasy as many false doctrines lead the people into deception.
Secondly the other interpretation is that each church mentioned is a stage in the development of the church over 2 millennia. The Ephesian Church, for example, was recommended for many good things but Jesus had one criticism, You have lost your first love! Their original fervent love for Him and the gospel had become mundane and dull. They needed to renew their love and commitment.
The Church of Philadelphia is the only church that had no rebuke from Jesus. He says He knows their works and has given them an open door. This is a door that leads to evangelism and revival because they have kept the words of Jesus faithfully.
He also says that the Church of Philadelphia (word means Brotherly Love) has a unique gift called the Key of David. When I first started in the ministry in 1983 the Lord Jesus named my ministry The Church of Philadelphia and told me He had given me the Key of David. I had no idea what that was.
Over time I discovered that Jesus uses that Key to open up revelations for me. The Key of David is an anointing that unlocks hidden things and mysteries. When Jesus opens it no man can close it. The Key can also be used to close things which no man can open again. I am praying for the opportunity to use it to close down our current pandemic. The timing is always in His hands.
First I would have the revelation of it and then the scriptures would be shown. Then He would show me how to access that problem to undo major blockages causing people severe misery on Earth. Like in the Book of Daniel when Daniel fasted for 3 weeks, this happened.
Daniel 10 v 9 - 13: "Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia."
It took the Lord 21 days to break through the stronghold of demonic forces over Persia, now modern day Iran. That nation is still a demonic stronghold till now. The person Daniel saw can be compared with the vision of Jesus seen by John in Revelation 1. And had similar impact on Paul on the road to Damascus.
In the same way this Covid pandemic is a demonic invasion that Jesus has heard many millions of prayers about this past year. He is using all these prayers to give the Key of David a big turn to end the crisis. Be it through vaccines or sheer spiritual miracles, we will be most thankful.
You cannot just ask Jesus for this Key. It is a special anointing given to those who are Intercessors. An Intercessor takes the place of another in ministry. Usually a sinner who is in serious bondage like an addict, alcoholic, in a cult etc. The Intercessor takes on that bondage and feels the stress and pain of it and prays as if he is the sinner until the burden lifts. Our intercession through the Key of David was sometimes so deep that one of us would have heroin needle tracks appear on their arms. This would block the addict long enough for Jesus to effect a rescue.
That is the work of this ministry called the Church of Philadelphia. We have the anointing of Jesus, the Key of David, which has also opened up this blog of Prophetic Fire so that people everywhere will know that Jesus is alive today. In March it will be 8 years since this blog started and today is its 1558th post.
Hal Lindsay in his book the Late Great Planet Earth said about the seven churches that after Laodicea imploded the Church of Philadelphia will rise again, briefly, for the final revival during the first half of the Great Tribulation. Jesus is preparing all who truly follow Him to be co-labourers with Him in that day.
Prayer: Heavenly Father I pray that You will raise up labourers for the final harvest. Those being entertained in the Laodicean Church must come out of that false church and respond to Your call so that we may be part of Your final revival before Jesus returns. In Jesus' name. Amen.