"Philadelphia" Sermon: Revelation 3:7-13 (manuscript)

 

“Philadelphia”

Revelation 3:7-13

November 26, 2023 YouTube

          The church in Philadelphia – named so by Attalus II, King of Pergamum due to his love for his brother, Eumenes – thus, the nickname between the brothers, and the name of this city.  Philadelphia was thirty miles southeast of Sardis and was known for its frequent earthquakes.  Otherwise, the only really significant thing about the church in Philadelphia is that Jesus did not condemn any sin in the church.

          Our look at the church begins with a look at Who Jesus is:

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one,

          Jesus says these are the words of the Holy One.  There is only One Who is Holy – He Who is Holy, Holy, Holy – so Jesus is proclaiming that He is God.  He also says these are the words of the True One.  The word that is used here does not simply mean true as opposed to false.  The word means corresponding to reality.  Jesus’ words are the very reality of existence.

“’who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

What is the key of David?

After Peter confess Jesus as Messiah, the Son of God, Jessus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mathhew 16:19, ESV).

The Roman Catholic Church mistakenly says that Jesus gave Peter a specific power and authority and that power and authority continues through all of the popes of history.

In Isaiah, we read that God overthrows Shebna and puts Eliakim in his place, and God says, “and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isaiah 22:22-21, ESV).

          The keys of the kingdom of heaven and the key of David are the same thing – they represent the authority of Jesus and Jesus’ investment of that authority in His people that they would be able to carry out His plans.  Jesus delegates His Power to His people – He gives them authority over entrance into the Kingdom – that is not to say that Jesus’ people choose who will be received into the Kingdom – but through acting in the name of Daivd and in the Name of the greater David – Jesus – others will see the power and authority of Jesus and come to know that it is only through Him that we may be saved.

          Jesus says that – by His Authority – the Keys – He opens doors that cannot be shut – He calls people into the Kingdom who will come in answer to His call – and He shuts doors that cannot be opened – Jesus has been given a people to be His – and all those the Father has chosen have been Jesus’ from before the foundation of the world, but those who have not been chosen to be part of the Kingdom – to them the door is shut and it cannot be opened.  Jesus opens the door to the Kingdom, and it stays open so all those who will ever believe will enter, and He locks the door shut to those who will never believe and will never be welcomed into the Kingdom.

          The church in Philadelphia – and all who truly believe in Jesus for salvation throughout time and space – is given the authority to call people to faith and belief in Jesus Alone for salvation – welcoming them into the door that Jesus has permanently opened – and warning those who do not believe and even practice blatant works of the devil – that there is another door that will never be opened to those who never believe.

          Second, they performed the ministry of the Gospel.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Jesus knows the work of the church in Philadelphia.  Jesus knows that they are true believers, and He tells them that since they are, the door to the Kingdom is forever open to them, and it will not be shut.  The believers of the church in Philadelphia keep God’s Word – they do everything God calls all people to do, and they do not deny the Name of Jesus – they hold fast to their belief that Jesus Alone is the Savior of all those who will ever believe throughout time and space.

Jesus opens the door so the church in Philadelphia would use the ability to serve their Savior, for the preaching of the Gospel, for their usefulness and faithful service, and the successful witness to Him.  This work does not overwhelm them or discourage them, and they remember Jesus’ words, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV).

Although the door to the Kingdom is eternally open to believers and eternally closed to non-believers, God opens and closes the doors of the people and places we go to from time to time and in accordance with His plans.

Paul writes about how God opened and closed doors for ministry according to His Will, “for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (I Corinthians 16:9, ESV).

Again, Paul writes, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:2-4, ESV).

God used the church in Philadelphia and will use us to spread His Goepel when and where He knows it is right.  We are to be ready in faithful service and the Holy Spirit will make our witness to Jesus successful.

The church in Philadelphia is great in belief and in the power of God and obedience and love of the Law of God, but, in the eyes of the world, they are a small church with few people – hardly a church that would turn the world upside down for Jesus. Especially since they had enemies around them.

“Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.

We will remember as Paul is mourning the rejection of Jesus by the Jews – after Israel had received all the knowledge and benefits that one would think would make them all believe when they heard the Word of God – Paul says, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:6-8, ESV).

In other words, just because you call yourself a Jew doesn’t make you a Jew, and just because you call yourself a Christian doesn’t make you a Christian. In fact, Jesus says that the Jews who are attacking the Christians in Philadelphia are not Jews, but they make up a synagogue of Satan. And there is the implication that they wanted the Christians to bow before them as being less than they.  But Jesus says those of the synagogue of Satan will bow before the true Christians, In the prophecy of Isaiah, we read that all unbelievers will bow before the believers, not to mention the Messiah, Jesus:

“The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 60:14, ESV).

And Jesus says, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.”

The Philadelphian church kept the Word of God and patiently endured the persecution by those of the synagogue of Satan.  The Philadelphian church was marked by an active, strong faith, and because of that, Jesus will keep them from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole earth – those who dwell on the earth.

Some will want to quickly jump to saying this refers to the tribulation before Jesus’ return, but there are questions that we will not answer here:  what does Jesus mean by the “hour” of trial?  What does He mean that it will come on “the whole earth”? Some will say it is obvious.  I am going to leave the issue here.

The one thing I will note for us is that Jesus says He will “keep them” from the “trial.” The church in Philadelphia lasted longer than the other six churches – remaining until 1390 A.D. when the Ottoman Empire took the city.

Third, they were rewarded for their steadfast belief in the Word of God.

          “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”

          We have seen before that the crown that Jesus gives for faithfulness to the Word of God is not a gold crown with precious stones.  We will remember that the crown is the vine-woven crown given to the winner of a race or other sporting event.  The value is not in the crown, but in the holding fast to the Word of God in faithfulness no matter what happens.

“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

The church in Philadelphia remained faithful and were conquerors among the pagans, as the preached and proclaimed the whole Word of God faithfully and obeyed it. The church in Philadelphia and all believers throughout time and space who are conquerors by the work of Jesus and the empowering of God the Holy Spirit, Jesus says He will make him a pillar in the Temple of God.

Is Jesus saying that the Temple will be rebuilt?  Is He saying that He will turn every Christian into a marble pillar?

Hiram from Tyre, under the instruction of King Solomon, crafted the pillars of the Temple, and we read about the vestibule:

“He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same” (I Kings 7:15, ESV).

And then we are given an important comment:

“He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz” (I Kings 7:21, ESV).

Jachin means “he establishes.”  And Boaz means “strength.”

What Jesus is saying is the ones who conquer, Jesus will establish in strength.  Those in the church in Philadelphia and all believers throughout time and space will be established in strength by Jesus.  We will stand firm in Christ’s Power.  We will be immovable, sturdy, and of Jesus’ very being.  Thise who truly believe will be forever Jesus’ and preserved in His Strength and Power.

And Jesus will write three things on His people:  the Name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the new name of Jesus.  He writes these things on His people – symbolically – to make us as His forever – eternally saved by Him.

What is the Name of God?

When Moses heard from God out of the burning bush, and God told him to free God’s people from Egypt, we read:

“Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “’I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13-14, ESV).

The name of the New Jerusalem is the New Jerusalem, which means, “The new city of peace.”

And the new name of Jesus, John records later in the book of Revelation: 

“On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16, ESV).

Jesus is telling the believers in the church in Philadelphia – and all true believers there will ever be – that we will be marked and known to be the people of the Sovereign God, in the restored Creation, we will eternally live in the new city of peace, and we will be with our Savior, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

What a glorious message that was given to the church in Philadelphia:

A church that was given the authority to proclaim the Word of God – just like we are.

A church that performed the ministry of the Gospel – just as we are called to do.

A church that was rewarded for their steadfast belief in the Word of God – just like we have been promised by our one and only Savior, Jesus.

And, again, this letter ends for this church and the seven churches and all churches:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

          Let us pray:

          Almighty God, You have shown us a church that was faithful under persecution – a church that stood strong for Jesus and was made conquers by the Holy Spirit.  Help us not be afraid of the synagogue of Satan or the trial about to come, but to hold fast and be immoveable in Jesus, looking to win the crown and be brought into the restored Creation with our God and Savior.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.