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
You’ll remember from our study last week the church in Philadelphia was a…
Small church
A church that is not esteemed by Men
Didn’t have an exciting reputation like Sardis
Yet, a church that was faithful to Jesus…
To His Word
To His Name
To His work
In light of that faithful testimony Jesus now speaks words of encouragement and hope to them by way of promises…
Open a door
Victory over the enemy
Deliverance from wrath
…an encouragement to us all who faithfully serve the Lord.
Promise to open a door (vs. 8)
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.
√ An open door
Jesus promises that He had placed an open door before them that no one could shut!
What does that mean!?
An “open door” in scripture speaks of an opportunity to minister.
Ex. Paul’s ministry
1st mission report to the church in Antioch…
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...
Paul’s letter to the believers in Corinth…
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.
Paul’s prayer request to the believers in Colossi...
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 the church in Philadelphia was that He had provided them with an opportunity to reach the lost souls in their city!
√ Obstacles
But two things stood as obstacles before them…
Their own lack of strength
The Jews who opposed the gospel message
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? Note vs. 9…
Promise of victory (vs. 9)
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.
√ Powerful opposition
Note that Jesus identifies the opposition – the enemy…
"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 the Law and their traditions and refused to receive the Good News concerning Jesus Christ.
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!
√ Victory over the enemy
In response to the opposition, the Lord promises the faithful believers in Philadelphia that He would grant them victory over their enemies!
That He would make those who opposed them come and acknowledge that they were truly God's servants!
That they – those who trusted in Jesus, not the Jews – those who trusted in the Law…
…were now the object of Jesus’ love.
As Paul (Super Hebrew) said…
Rom. 9:25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were
not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
Rom. 9:26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to
them, ‘You are not My people,’ There
they shall be called sons of the living God.”
That is, the Beloved of God would no longer be the Nation Israel and her people…
…it would be a Body of people from all nations (Jew & Gentile) who accepted God’s proposal of love as demonstrated on the Cross of Christ!
The testimony of God’s love for the Church has been clearly demonstrated in the last 2,000 years.
For wherever the Gospel is preached and practiced you will find a nation that is blessed.
Meanwhile, the Jewish people who rejected their Messiah have suffered unfathomable horrors beginning with the destruction of their….
Nation
Temple
…in 70 A.D. and then driven from their Promised Land to live as foreigners in strange lands.
So, Jesus promised the believers in Philadelphia victory over their enemies.
√ Bonus - the “time of the gentiles”
The Bible indicates that Jesus’ promise to focus His attention and affection on the Gentiles and not the Jewish nation is limited.
Paul speaks of this in Romans 11…
Rom. 11:25 For I do not
desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should
be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come
in.
Rom. 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer
will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
Rom. 11:27 For this is My covenant
with them, When I take away their sins.”
Rom. 11:28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
Two things we ought to note here…
1) The Lord is going to turn His attention and affection back to
the nation of Israel at some point in time.
When we see that beginning to take place it is an indication that God’s timetable for bringing history to an end is close.
After almost 2,000 years of absence we now find the Jewish people back in Israel!
Indicates that the “time of the gentiles” is ending.
May put us in the generation that will not see death but instead be taken from the earth at the Rapture of the Church!
2) No room for anti-Semitism! Note the Bible’s instructions for our attitude toward Jewish people who reject Jesus.
Rom. 11:28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
That is, our duty is to love the Jewish people and do all that we can to share God’s love with them.
Promise of deliverance (vs. 10-11)
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 come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
√ Deliverance from wrath
This is an interesting promise. Jesus says that because the believers in Philadelphia had remained faithful to His command…
…that He would keep them from the "hour of trial".
There is of course much disagreement as to what the "hour of trial" is, or was.
Persecution under Rome (historical)
The Tribulation period (futuristic)
From a historical stand point one would have to think that Jesus was speaking of the persecution of Rome.
However, there are a few things here that suggest that Jesus is speaking prophetically of the Faithful Church in the Last Days.
There is no evidence that this church escaped the madness of Nero or Domatian.
Jesus speaks of a world wide trial - upon unbelieving Gentiles and Christ-rejecting Jews not persecution of Christians.
Purpose of the trial - to test the inhabitants of the world
The great persecutions of Rome don't meet those criteria, rather only the Great Tribulation does.
√ Promise of the Rapture
So the promise provides evidence and hope for a pre-tribulation rapture of the church.
Further evidence for this interpretation is the context in which the promise is given in vs. 10 & the admonition in vs. 11...
"Behold, I come quickly (Lit. “suddenly”)" – Vs. 11
Here Jesus describes His coming as an imminent event, one which will come suddenly and without announcement (like a thief).
Different than the Bible's description of His coming to establish His Kingdom on earth.
That event is preceded by a predicted period of time described in Rev. 6-19, Matthew 24 and Daniel.
After a time of great trouble
By contrast, the coming of Jesus for His church at the Rapture is portrayed here and other passages (I Thess. 4 & 5) as coming at…
Anytime
With no preceding events
At a time of general peace
Therefore, they must be two different events – one at the beginning of the Great Tribulation…
…the other at the end of the Great Tribulation!
Ap. The encouragement and exhortation to us is to be faithful to the Lord no matter what the opposition, or how weak we may be…
…for Jesus may call us to heaven today!
Invitation and reward (vs. 12-13)
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."
√ Invitation & reward
Jesus closes with promises in eternity for His faithful servants.
Note in vs. 12 that He promises that those who overcome He will make them a pillar in the temple of God.
That may sound like an odd thing - never dreamed about being a pillar!
Meaningful in light of the people He was speaking to! Remember that Philadelphia was nick-named…
"Little Athens" - for the many temples and buildings which featured the Greek architecture - pillars!
Those the city wanted to honor had a pillar fashioned that bore their name and even a likeness of them!
Notice that Jesus here promises to....
"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." Vs. 12
...just like the pillars of their city!
So the promise of Jesus is symbolic of the honor that God would bestow upon faithful Christians and their permanent place in His presence!
√ He who has an ear!
As we each of the Lord's invitations we note that it is open to all who would hear His message and respond.
That is, His promises are still true for anyone who would receive His gift of salvation and bear faithful witness for Jesus…
…His Word, His Name, and His Work.
Reminds us that while being faithful to the Lord in this life may be difficult…
…His rewards for our faithful service far outweigh any suffering we may be called to endure for Him!
Close
√ A faithful witness
We’ve seen in our study of the church in Philadelphia just how important the characteristic of faithfulness is to Jesus.
You don’t have to be…
Strong
Popular
Gifted
…to bless Jesus, just be faithful to do what He’s called you to do.
Love Him daily and share the Word of His love with others.