If you hold the key to your house, you have the authority to let people in. The same is true in

God's kingdom, according to Nancy DeMoss Walgamuth. And God is given to Jesus, the holy one, the true

one, all authority in heaven and on earth. He holds the keys. This is the Reviver Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Walgamuth,

author of Heaven Rules. For September 21st, 2023, I'm Dana Grash.

If someone hands you their keys, they're giving you authority and responsibility.

That's an important concept in God's kingdom, and Nancy will explain it today.

This fall, she's working her way through the letters to the churches in Revelation.

Today she begins a series on the church

in Philadelphia called Encouragement to Persevere. Can you use some of that? I know I sure can.

Here's Nancy. Well, we come today to the sixth of the seven letters to the churches in the

Book of Revelation. And I've been looking forward to this one. It's the letter in the book of Revelation. And I've been looking forward to

this one. It's the letter to the church in Philadelphia. And being a Philadelphia girl myself,

I'm interested in this one in particular. If you think of the city of Philadelphia here in the

United States, you maybe think of William Penn, you think of the Liberty Bell, you think

of Independence Hall. Maybe if you're a sports fan, you think of the Liberty Bell, you think of Independence Hall.

Maybe if you're a sports fan, you think of the Phillies or the Eagles or the 76ers.

I think of Philly cheese steaks.

I was thinking we should have had those for lunch today.

That would have been a great way to think about the city of Philadelphia.

Somebody said to me, when I came in today, one of our staff said, yeah, I remember the first time I was in Philadelphia, the first night I spent there, there were two murders within six blocks of where we were staying in the city of Brotherly Love.

I said, I don't know if I should say that on the radio because the Chamber of Commerce might come after us, but I do enjoy the Northeast, and I'm glad to be from the city of Philadelphia.

But the Philadelphia we're going to be looking at today, and over these next several days, is not a Philadelphia here in the United States, but the city of Philadelphia in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, where all of these cities are set

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