7: Philadelphia

Last week I left you with the idea that God wanted us to be clean and pure in the face of everything in life that goes against us. In fact, the motif was that we be dressed in white. The only problem to this motif was that we know that this idea was a reach, at best; and in reality, a pipe dream that will probably never happen. However, I qualified the parameters of the statement because Jesus knew exactly how impossible this idea was. You can overcome when we depend on the Holy Spirit for power. We stay clean when we are operating in confidence that God is going to move us. We do not have to compromise anything and/or surrender ourselves to a self-preservationist view of living which is what most Christians end up doing, intentionally or unintentionally. Don’t be drained or defeated. Jesus knows that we were never meant to journey our lives alone. We will get the supernatural power and strength to do what we need to do and make it to the end. Whatever that end may be. This morning we move to another church, a church that exemplifies the idea we left off with last week. This church was in the city of Philadelphia. This church is unique in that when you read the text that we’re about to embark on, there is on complaint. Jesus loves the church in Philadelphia. It’s apparent. And because it’s so plain, we have something to learn and something to glean from this church. Let’s not spare any time and get started. Revelations 3:7, let’s read. ⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  I just want to expound on a few things in verse 7 to set up an understanding of what’s going on here. In all the other letters, our Lord uses symbols to describe himself that come from the vision John had of him, recorded in Chapter 1. In this letter, however, Jesus makes no reference to that vision. He tells them plainly who he is and what he does. Who he is is “the holy one” and “the true one.” He is the holy one — morally perfect. His character is without flaw or blemish. And he is genuine reality. He is the true one, the one behind all that really exists. That is who he is. What he does is: He “holds the key of David.” That is a reference to an incident recorded in the 22nd chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. The Speaker (Jesus) is identifying to the reads or hearers of this letter that there are promises coming that are not conditional. What this means is that there are no back-sees.. It is given unconditionally. You don’t have to earn it. You just get it and nobody can take it away from you. This is a promise you can count on. Very simply, and I don’t need to go on in too much detail is that the person speaking holds the “key to David” or in Old Testament ideology: the keys to heaven. He opens a door to heaven that cannot be closed by anybody for any reason. His will cannot be opposed. He governs the events of history on earth. He will open some doors; he will close other doors. What he opens no one can shut, what he shuts, no one can open. No human power can contravene what he determines. More than that, the entrance into the kingdom of heaven is at the discretion of the speaker, who also happens to be Jesus. I know a lot of us are seasoned Christians, and so I’m saying this as a reminder so we don’t get caught up or find ourselves trying to have new Christians adhere to something outrageous: Salvation is a gift from God. Once somebody accepts that gift of salvation from God through faith in Jesus Christ, there is no taking away that salvation. There is no walking away from that gift—that is to say that one cannot lose it once God gives it. So let’s not judge people on the poor decisions they make after they become save, which I’m sure, many of us are guilty of. Let’s embrace the poor decisions we all make and cover over those wrongs in love because those people making the mistakes are no different than you or I, and it is both of us by God’s grace that we’re receiving an open door invitation into the most exclusive club ever, forever. Let’s go to verse 8 because there is something there for us. To a church like the church at Philadelphia the Lord says he will open doors of ministry and service, and no one can shut them. The Apostle Paul uses this analogy about himself. On his second missionary journey he tried to go into the province of Asia to preach the gospel but was forbidden by the Holy Spirit; it was a shut door. But let’s think in terms other than ministry, let’s think in terms of vocation and location. We are seeing something unusual in this line today. Without any announcement, the Lord has, to everyone’s surprise, opened doors in places we least expect it; and likewise, He is closing doors in places we thought should remain open. But there is something to be learned about why God opens doors. I can’t really tell you why He closes doors, but I can tell you why and in order to tell you why, I need to go to Greek which doesn’t say, “I know” but it says “because”– “Because you have little power and have kept my word and have not denied my name.” What the text actually says is, “I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut because you have a little power and have kept my word and not denied my name.”  It says that an open door is given when a church fulfills the conditions that will allow it to move through that door once it has been opened. Chief among those conditions is that it have discovered the power of the Spirit. It is spiritual power the Lord is talking about. It is not so much strength as it is power — power obtained by faith, i.e., by expecting God to act. Individuals in the church sense that God can do something. They look for an opportunity, a need to appear, and when they respond, a door opens for continued service which may grow even wider so others may enter with them. We need to remember that the presence of the Spirit is promised to each church without any condition whatsoever. When we know Christ the Spirit comes to live within our hearts and to reside there. But the power of the Spirit is given only to those churches who learn to keep his word and to not deny his name! Those two things are central in the ministry of every church and every believer. If you want doors to open in your life, then you got to keep God’s word and not deny Him. The Bible enables us to know the character of Jesus, to have fellowship with him, and to not deny that character in our lives. We are to reflect in our lives all that his name stands for. We are to know him as present with us at all times, and seek to conform our behavior to his life. I was explaining this yesterday to my best friend, the reason I do QT and post that up online is not really for the people reading it. It’s so that the Word of God can work in me and work itself out in logic and I can take that to conform my day to it and in the hopes that other people can do the same. The reason is so that doors will opened supernaturally. Let’s keep reading. Verse 9. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. ¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. To a church that is responsive and ready to be used, the Lord will use his power to “open and shut” to make their enemies respect them and openly acknowledge God’s blessing upon them. We saw this phrase, “the synagogue of Satan,” used also in the letter to the persecuted church at Smyrna. It referred to certain Jews in that city who claimed to be spiritual descendants of Abraham but in actuality they were only his physical descendants; their attitude toward the truth of God was far removed from Abraham’s faith. The Lord himself continually confronted the Pharisees who claimed to be Abraham’s descendants, but Jesus said to them, “You are of your father the devil,” (John 8:44). So here in the city of Philadelphia Jesus refers to this Jewish opposition as “the synagogue of Satan.” But something amazing happens. What causes them to come at last and bow before the church and acknowledge God’s blessing upon them? It is because the church responds to the opposition and hostility with love and with obvious knowledge of God which these Jews do not possess, even though they have the Scriptures. As a result, they come at last and acknowledge God’s blessing on the church at Philadelphia. I don’t know how many of you read the book, “Ender’s Game,” if you didn’t read it, here’s a spoiler that I need to get out there because there is a learning lesson that we need to keep in our self-entitled minds: when we respond above and beyond societal expectations of us, we become respected. Nobody can do anything of contempt against you. Until then, you’re nothing. Verse 10 is not talking about the apocalypse like the end of the world type of deal. What it’s really talking about is a mindset. The mindset is referring to a time when people live as if this life is all there is. People who are materialistically-minded, who live upon the earth and for the earth and for the things of earth. That is what the time of testing is sent to reveal. As the times get harder and it is even more difficult to be a Christian, as hostility increases and the world becomes more and more secular and casts aside much of the trappings of Christianity that it had formerly practiced, then we must be careful that we do not give up and go along with worldly attitudes and worldly pursuits. We must not allow a desire for status, prestige, fame, a beautiful home and the things the world lusts for, to become central in our thinking. “Hold on to what you have,” says Jesus, because there is danger that someone may take your crown. That is not a reference to the possible loss of salvation. What it is speaking of is your opportunity for service in the eternal ages. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I’m going to wrap up here. There are three promises here at the end that you need to remember when things are tough and when things are good. Because none of it matters except this promise in verse 12.

1. The name of my God – This promises us that we will become godlike, as in like God. The purpose of the Spirit in our lives is to make us godly or godlike. If you are growing and maturing as a Christian, each year you ought to be a little easier to live with — more patient, compassionate, understanding of others, and mature in your judgment. You should become more godlike. eTh
2. The name of the city of my God – this is an illusion to the last chapter in Revelations. I suggest you read it for yourself, but I’ll give you the summary here so you don’t walk away feeling like you don’t understand:  the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven “as a bride adorned for her husband” — a beautiful bride meeting her husband. That again is a picture of loving intimacy; someone captured by the beauty and goodness of another and longing to be with him or her.
3. My new name – This is a promise of something else that’s coming and that surprise is going to be excellent.