Revelation 3:7-13
The
Read Text…
Rev. 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:
Rev. 3:8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
Rev. 3:9 “Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie--indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
Rev. 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Rev. 3:11 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
Rev. 3:12 “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Rev. 3:13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
Pray
Intro
√ The faithful church
The Lord now turns His attention to a…
Small church
A church that is not esteemed by Men
Didn’t have an exciting reputation like
Yet, we find that the Lord’s message to this church is all
positive! As Jesus looks at this little
church He has only praise for the work that is going on in
Thus, in some of your Bibles the superscript will read…
“The faithful church”
A great fellowship to belong to!
Ap. Type of the Church immediately preceding the Tribulation
Small and weak when compared to the massive so-called Christian Church in the Last Days. Yet, powerful in their testimony and fruitful in their labor.
It is the hope of every generation that we might be the
fulfillment of the type, which the church in
Maranatha!
Greeting (vs. 7a)
Rev 3:7a "And
to the angel of the church in
√ Greeting
The
Located about 28 miles SW of Sardis
The word occurs 6 other times in the NT and is so translated.
Here the word occurs the 7th and final time and refers to the city.
Named after a king of Pergamos, Attalus Philadelphus, who built the city.
Located at the top and end of a long valley on the main
Imperial road between the Imperial Post in
Called the "Gateway
to the East" & "Little
Rich soil - great agricultural area - esp. grapes, thus Dionysus (or Baccus) was a popular idol of pagan worship.
The one problem - build on a major fault! Earthquakes!
Here was located a small church, yet a church which Satan could not shut down because of their faithful service and commitment to Jesus!
Description (vs. 7b)
Rev 3:7b ..."These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens":
√ Description
The Lord breaks with the pattern in the first 5 letters in that the description of Himself here does not come from chapter 1! So, we will have to look elsewhere in the scripture to discern what He is saying about Himself.
1) “He who is holy”; in a general sense "holy" means to be separate. In the Bible God's people are called to be holy, or separated from the contamination of the World and its system.
The reason is that God is perfectly holy, in purity, in majesty and in glory and nothing unholy can enter His presence.
Thus, God calls His people to be holy...
1Pe
1Pe
So then, in Rev. 3:7 where Jesus calls Himself…
"He who is Holy"
He is declaring Himself to be God - the Holy One!
With Man holiness is a goal
With God holiness is a characteristic
Since holiness is a characteristic of Jesus’ Nature, He must be God.
2) He who is true; true in the sense of real, or genuine, that is, Jesus is the "real deal".
A reminder that in the midst of a culture that worshipped many false gods…
…Jesus says that He is the true, real, genuine, authentic God!
Important for the believers in
Ex. Round world
Difficult to hold onto the truth that the world is round in a culture of flat earthers!
Ap. One True God
Even though the Christians in
…it was hard not to be swayed from that truth when everyone around you said differently.
3) He who has the key of David; this is different than Rev. 1:18 where Jesus is said to have the keys to "death and Hades". This time He proclaims that He has the "key of David."
To understand the symbolism we have to go back to Isa. 22:15-23.
Ex. Eliakim
God judged the wicked leader Shebna and put a faithful man named Eliakim in his place. Eliakim had the keys to open the door to the treasures of the king.
Isa. 22:22 The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
That is…
When Eliakim opened the door it was open.
When Eliakim closed the door it was closed.
The symbolism then is that Jesus has the key to His Father’s House where a person can find…
Truth
Holiness
That is, a person cannot come to know truth, nor to experience holiness except through a relationship with Jesus Christ Who opens the door.
Ap. Truth & Holiness in our lives
A good reminder that right doctrine (truth) and right living (holiness) go together! One can’t live a holy life separate from truth!
And, that truth is found in the Person of Jesus Christ Who makes us holy by His perfect sacrifice that has opened the door for us to the Father’s House.
√ His description
These descriptions of Jesus were to remind and encourage the
church in
...Jesus has the power and authority to open and close the opportunity to reach them according to His sovereign will.
Ap. Reaching our world for Christ
Sometimes the task of reaching our world for Jesus seems near impossible. This is a good reminder that Jesus has the key to unlock men's minds and reveal to them truth and holiness.
Commendation (vs. 8-10)
Rev 3:8 "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
Rev 3:9 "Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie--indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
Rev 3:10 "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
√ Commendation
Unlike the church in
Note that Jesus commends the believers for three areas of faithfulness…
To His Word
To His Name
To His work
1) To His Word
Note vs. 8…
"I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word…”
The testimony of this church was that even though they did not have much strength, perhaps in numbers, or that they were wearied in every way by the constant opposition of the Jews, they were...
…faithful to keep His Word.
That is, faithful to guard and protect the truth of the gospel as it had been committed to them.
In contrast to others who had received the word of God with joy, but because of tribulation or the cares of this world had abandoned Christ.
Ex. The parable of the soils
The believers in
2) To His Name
Note the end of vs. 8…
"…and have not denied My name.”
That is they had made a public confession of Christ as their Lord and Savior and were not ashamed to align themselves with the Name of Jesus.
You know it's easy to stand for Christ when you're up, strong in the Spirit, unburdened emotionally, and physically well.
But when you're down - lacking confidence in the Spirit burdened with emotional stress and physically oppressed or worn out - it's difficult to be a GMOFAP.
Ex. Peter in the courtyard
Yet, the great testimony of our brothers and sisters in this little church was that in spite of all the opposition they never denied the Name of Jesus.
Ap. Don’t be ashamed to proclaim His Name!
There’s a great deal of pressure on people today to refrain from anything that would be viewed as “intolerant”.
Thus, Christians are under pressure to speak of “God” in a generalized way.
To speak of “God”, but not to use the “J” word!
But remember it is only by the Name of Jesus that a person can be saved!
As Peter preached…
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts
Honor His Word and His Name and Jesus will do great works through your life!
3) To His work
Vs. 10…
"Because you have kept My command to persevere”
The NIV reads…
“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently”
Here the Lord commends the believers for not giving up! They were called to a difficult place of ministry…
Small church
Limited resources
Strong opposition from the established religious leaders
…and they were trying to reach people who were didn’t care about their message and who were comfortable in their life style.
Sound familiar? J
Yet, they refused to give up! They continued to do what Jesus had called them to do no matter how dismal is looked.
It’s been rightly said…
“Success in life is often not to the most gifted or talented, but to those who simply don’t give up.”
Ex. Scott Hamilton – gold medal skater
Ap. Are you still in the race?
Jesus didn’t ask us to make fruit, just to plant seeds! Keep planting and let Him worry about making fruit.
Close
√ The faithful church
Faithfulness to anything or anyone is hard to find in our day. We are surrounded by people who sell out their faithfulness…
To the highest bidder
For a better looking partner
To advance their career
To escape responsibility
But, we’re reminded by the Lord’s words to the church in Philadelphia that He prizes faithfulness and rewards those who are faithful…
To His Word
To His Name
To His Word
Mt 25:21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few
things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your
lord.’
Chose to be a faithful servant – He won’t forget!
Open door; Jesus said that He had placed an open door before them.
Speaks of opportunity to minister.
Act 14:27 And when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
and...
1Co 16:8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost.
1Co 16:9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
also...
Col 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
Col 4:3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
So, what the Lord was communicating to this church was that He had provided them with an opportunity to reach the lost souls in their city.
But two things stood as obstacles before them.
Their own lack of strength
The Jews who opposed the gospel
As for their lack of strength, we've just looked at that. It was only a perceived obstacle. That is, as long as they looked at their own weakness they would never take advantage of the open door the Lord had given them.
However, if they looked to the Lord for their strength and simply walked through the open door by faith, then the Lord could use them for His purposes.
As for those who opposed the church; who where they?
"Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie-"
1st church of Satan! Not what is said over their door - but that's who they were working for.
They were Jews - by birth - but not by the Spirit. They held onto their traditions and refused to receive the gospel message. Instead they opposed and rejected anyone who believed in Jesus.
What that meant in daily life was that the Jewish-Christians were cast out of the synagogue and treated like heathens.
Ap. Remember that often times the greatest resistance to a move of God is the established church!
The Lord's promise to the faithful believers in Philadelphia was that He would make those that opposed them come and acknowledge that they were truly God's servants!