God's Message to the Seven Churches Part 5 - The Faithful Church: Philadelphia (1 of 2)

As we mentioned earlier, we've been studying the seven churches of Revelation. We are to the sixth of the seven. Tonight is the church of Philadelphia. It is the faithful church. It is one of two churches that isn't particularly rebuked.

It's the only one of which pretty much everything that was said about it was very good. This is one of the churches on the map here. It's in what's called Asia in the scriptures. It's not Asia as we think about it. It is Western Turkey and so this map up here is a portion of what today is Western Turkey.

This off to the left, the blue is the Aegean Sea that is between Turkey and present day Greece. You can see most if not all of the seven churches on the map. I think you can see all of them. The last one we talked about was the church at Sardis. If I can get this pointer to work again, alright?

It's right here in the middle of the map is Sardis. It's right in an intersection of Roman roads. It was a very well traveled city, okay? A lot of people, a lot of activity in the city of Sardis. As you move down the road to the Southeast, you come to the city of Philadelphia with the red balloon on it there, okay?

And that is the city where the church is that we're going to look at this evening. The church at Philadelphia. So, if you look in your Bibles, in Revelation chapter three verse seven and we'll read down through verse 13 and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things saith he, that is holy. He that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. I know thy works.

Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength and has kept my word and has not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will, I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will ride upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from God and I will write upon him my new name. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity this evening to worship you together.

We thank you for being our mighty fortress. Our ever faithful God. Lord, we pray that we would be faithful to you in everything that we do. Lord, make it truly our heart's desire. That we want to be faithful.

Lord, we pray as we look at the example set forth by this church this evening. In a difficult place, in difficult times, that we would learn from them to endure, to have faith, and to be faithful children, and representatives of our Lord and king. In Jesus precious name, we do pray. Amen. A little more about the city of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia was founded by the king of Pergamum. Now, Pergamum, which is at the very top left up there on the map, had a church that John wrote to earlier in Revelation chapter two. The king of Pergamum founded the city of Philadelphia, obviously several miles away in January. So, approximately two hundred years before Christ. It was called the city of brotherly love and recognition of the unusual love of the king for his brother.

Now, I'm not completely familiar with the rest of that story. We'll we'll just stop there but that's the reason for the name of the city, the city of brotherly love. It was built on a main route east from Rome. That dotted line that goes through it, that is a Roman road. And so, there was a lot of commerce.

It's 30 miles Southeast of Sardis, It became a fast growing urban and commercial center. However, the church Philadelphia and the city of Philadelphia was built on a fault line, And, the city over the years endured many earthquakes. In seventeen BC, the city of Philadelphia and several other cities in that area of Asia were almost completely destroyed, and then rebuilt. By that time, many of the people that had lived in the central area of the city had moved outside to the rural area. See, you're a little safer if you're living out in the rural areas than you are if you're living all bunched up in a city together.

And so, that's what they did. And so, the the Central City Metropolitan Area, you call it a Philadelphia, was not what it had once been. And the people were scattered over the area and not quite as centralized as they had once been and that of course may affect the church as well as people moved several at times maybe miles away and though you think, hey, if you're only five miles away, that's not far. Well, it is if you're walking, okay? And so, this all affects the city and the church.

Predictably, based upon the commendation of the Lord, we just read about in Revelation. The city of Philadelphia and surrounding area has maintained some sort of Christian community and church through the centuries. Today, there are churches in the city of Philadelphia despite the fact that Philadelphia is in Turkey which is an Islamic country. Don't know exactly what kind of churches and if they're born again believers but there is a Christian community has been in this city. It's under a different name now than the name Philadelphia, but it still exists and so do churches in that area.

Unlike some of the other cities that we've looked at. So, we see, learn a little bit about the church itself and the city in particular. Now, the description of Christ. As we looked at earlier, and I'm gonna go ahead and and turn this off because it's going to turn itself off in the middle of my sermon. So, at the beginning of each letter to the different churches, there is a description of Jesus Christ who is the head of the church and this description here we read in verse seven.

These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. This is the description of Christ here. The first thing that it says about Jesus here is that he is holy. He is holy. Well, that means he is just.

That means he is pure. That means he is stands alone. He is holy. He is God. Without sin, without equal.

Standing alone as God is the person Jesus Christ, okay? This description is of Christ himself. Of course, he is God and as God, he is holy. He stands alone in this moral attribute. Only one is perfectly good.

As Jesus himself pointed out to the wealthy young man in Mark 10, who despite making a serious attempt at keeping the law fell far short as he indicated by his choice to reject the king of heaven for the wealth of earth. He said to the young man, why call you me good? There is only one who is good and who is that? And that is God. That is God.

The Bible says there are none righteous what? No, not one. There there's no one that is good. It says in the same passage. The only one who's truly good, who's truly holy is God.

And Jesus Christ is God. He is the one we see here, our holy God. He is also true. Standing alone as the genuine article. Divine, just, and altogether, the faithful son of God and savior of the world.

His identity is God is unassailable and his word, the truth upon which all other so called truth. Is assessed. He is true and it is his truth that sets us free. It is the truth of his word That is our basis for faith, salvation, and everything that he has called us to do in the Christian life. Now, Jesus is the standard for truth.

He is genuine. He can be trusted. He is faithful. The holy and faithful, the only true God. It's interesting in most of the other descriptions, we see Jesus depicted often as coming in judgement because these churches were struggling in areas of their of their life and service, ministry and God gives it as a warning but here, God Jesus is not described and pictured as a judge.

He is pictured as a holy and faithful Lord and savior. For those who know him and love him as the church of Philadelphia. Demonstrates. He has also the keys of David. It says here, that he has the keys of David that he openeth and no man shutteth and he shutteth and no man openeth.

Now, that that's an interesting statement. What does he mean by the keys of of David? What is specific about about David? Well, David is a type of Christ in scripture, in scripture. Jesus is the seed of David.

As David ruled upon the throne of Jerusalem, Jesus will rule there forever. However, there's a little more to this. Take if you would and turn to Isaiah 22. What you may not realize is that John is alluding to a passage in scripture in Isaiah where it uses the very same terminology concerning a man named Eliakim who also is a picture of Christ, a type of Christ as used here by John. The nation of Israel was floundering.

They were turning to outside kings. This is actually the nation of Judah, the southern part. They were turning to outside kings for help and assistance, for security rather than turning to God and there was a lot of corruption in the government. Now, does that sound familiar? And there they came upon a time God gave them a new king.

His name was Hezekiah. He was a good king. He walked in the steps it says of his father, David. He was a man of good character. He was a man after God's own heart.

And he began to make changes in the government in Judah and one of those changes was the posing of a guy named Shebna who was cropped with another man named Eliakim. If you would look in verse 20, of Isaiah 22, it says and it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah and I will clothe him with thy robe. This is Shebna's robe. He is the corrupt one who is on his way out. I will clothe him with thy robe and will strengthen him with thy girdle.

I will commit thy government into his hand and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder so he shall open and no none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open. So, John is referencing this passage back here in Isaiah 22 and this man, Eliakim and the responsibility and duty, he was given in the government of Hezekiah. He was given a key, a key to the treasure house, a key to certain government buildings maybe that housed certain treasures, money, whatever power essentially in the Kingdom Of Judah and it was his privilege and his responsibility and his honor to be the one that administrated those funds and administrated much of the government goings on in Judah and this responsibility was laid upon his shoulder and when he opened the door, it was opened and no one else could shut it or lock it. That was only his prerogative and when he shut the door, no one else could open it to go in and take something out. He was probably more or less what we would call today the treasurer and he is used here as a type of Christ in our story.

I was reading Warren Wiersbe and Warren Wiersbe said this, Eliakim was a picture of Jesus Christ, a dependable administrator of the affairs of God's people. Jesus Christ is liken unto him because Jesus Christ is a dependable, trustworthy, holy, true administrator of the affairs of the church today. It is his church. He has the prerogative to open the doors, to close the doors. He has the prerogative to let people in or to not let people in.

He has the prerogative to open opportunities for ministry or to close those opportunities. It is his prerogative for he is the what? He is the head of the church, the administrator of the church. He is the one to whom we look. Thus, Christ stands alone as the possessor of the keys, of the keys to the door of heaven.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh under the father what? But by me. Jesus later on said, or earlier in John says, I am the door. I am the door.

If you wish to enter in to the blessings of the family of God, you have to come through who? You have to come through Jesus. For he's the only way to heaven. He is the only way to salvation. The only way to forgiveness.

Jesus is the door. Consequently, we're told in Revelation one eighteen, he also has the keys to death and hell also. You see, if you will trust in Jesus Christ, as he says, as we just read, the way, the truth, and the life, then, you enter into everlasting life and you have a place reserved in heaven but if you reject Jesus Christ, well then the the opposite is true. For it is Jesus that will sit on that great white throne in Revelation 20. And pronounced sentence upon those who have rejected him and his offer of salvation.

Jesus Christ also possesses the keys to the treasure house of God's riches. Matthew six thirty three, but seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. You need all these things that you need, not just your physical necessities but your spiritual and emotional necessities. Jesus is the possessor of all those things. He says, seek me first and I will take care of you.

I have the key. You come to the person who has the key. Some of you have keys to this building, some of you don't. If you need to get in here for some reason during the week, you're going to have to come to somebody who has the what? Who has the key?

To let you in. If we're going to receive the blessings of heaven and the riches of Jesus Christ, we have to come through him. For he's the one with the key. Paul said, but my but but my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Saying the very same thing.

Jesus Christ also is the possessor of the keys to the opportunities given us by God to serve him. Which seems to be the emphasis of the next verse in reference to the church of Philadelphia. In context, it would seem particularly that the keys that Jesus has and the door that he opens or shuts is in relation to ministry opportunities for the church of Philadelphia. You see, there are missionaries that would love to go to certain parts of the world and minister but they can't. The door is what?

The door is closed but sometimes, the door what? It opens and God gives them opportunities to go and to preach the gospel. We just need to be ready to go when the opportunity is given. Sometimes, you may have a friend or a relative that you would like to witness to. And the door is what?

Closed. But always be ready because that door could open. Don't miss out. It is Jesus that gives us those opportunities. We must not miss them.

Sometimes, we're so caught up in other things. The church at Philadelphia is a faithful church and God says, he's going to open some doors through them. He challenges them to make sure they walk through. Continuing on back to Revelation chapter three we come to verse number eight I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.

For thou hast a little strength and has kept my word and has not denied my name. This begins the commendation of the Lord for the church at Philadelphia and there's several things God has to say. God says, he knows their works as he said of the previous churches and that accordingly, having known their works, he has opened the door unto them that no man can shut. Indicating this door would remain open as long as God willed. That it remain open.

As he alone is sovereign and man's actions cannot alter God's will. Man may try to close doors and sometimes he does that just won't close. Because it's not God's will and it's not God's time. There are times when we may try to hold doors open that we just can't. Because it's God's time.

God said to the church of Philadelphia, I've opened a door and no man shutting it. Whatever this opportunity may be, it's there, it's there to the glory of God and it will remain there as long as God wills it to be but don't miss. Don't miss it. In a couple verses, he's going to say, behold, I come quickly. Don't don't wait too long.

Don't wait too long. We are not told the specifics but it would seem that God had given them a particular opportunity for service and service and growth which they were encouraged and challenged by the Lord to take advantage of. And it was despite it says here in verse eight, of being small in stature or little in strength. And despite being little in strength, the church of Philadelphia stood steadfast. In the face of an unnamed persecution, likely due in part by the actions of some here named the synagogue of Satan.

Look if you would in verse nine. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan and we'll come back to that in a moment but it seems that they have remained faithful through a test, through a trial, and now God was going to open a door and give them an opportunity for something great, for something that they were looking forward to. For some challenge, for some opportunity in ministry. And he said this, he mentioned specifically, for thou hast a little strength. Despite the little strength of the church at Philadelphia, God was going to do great things.

You see, God's power, God's ministry, God's work does not depend upon the strength of the flesh. The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. But it relies on the power and the grace of almighty God. The song we sang, a mighty fortress is our God says, at the beginning of the second verse, did we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing?

We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Dusk ask, who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he. Christ is the one who's on our side. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.

Yes, we may be of little strength but our God is not. He is almighty. He is the Lord of hosts, Sabaoth as he's called here in the Psalm. He is omnipotent. He is all wise.

He opens and no man shuts. He shuts and no man opens and he helps his children to walk through. Remember back in Acts chapter one, Jesus told his disciples, he said, when I ascend back up into heaven, I leave, I want you to go back to what? Where? Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the holy spirit and then he said, but you shall receive power after that, the holy spirit has come upon you.

Our strength in ministry and service to God does not come from the might and determination of the flesh but from the grace and power of God and the spirit that he has given to us. Little in strength could refer to the the church's number, its size. Due to the fact of the the earthquakes that had happened only less than a century before and we're continuing. People had moved out of the city. That that may have affected the size of the church.

We don't know. Could refer to the economic status of the church. Maybe the church wasn't just small or maybe it wasn't that small but maybe the people were poor. And they were seen as being little in strength. They didn't have a lot of money to do a lot of things.

But that's not a problem for God. Maybe they had little political influence. Compared particularly with the synagogue of Satan which was the community of Jews that were opposing them in Philadelphia. They probably had by comparison no political influence where their opposition may have had great political influence and made life very difficult for them. But our success for the Lord does not depend upon the size of our church or our economic status or our political status but of our faithfulness.

It is required in in stewards that a man be found what? Faithful. Faithful. God hasn't asked us to be rich. He hasn't asked us to be powerful.

Or famous eloquent or beautiful He has asked us to be faithful. And he can help us The faithful God to be so. For him. Despite their little strength, he expected them to do great things. Their little strength could also indicate an attitude of humility and a recognition on the part of the church that true strength comes from God and not from size or place in society.

It's important to note that the church which received the highest honors, the greatest mark, the best marks in the Book of Revelation was a church that was said to be little in strength. Compared to the church at Sardis, which we looked at last week, which evidently was at one time an impressive church, a strong church. That was now spiritually stagnant and decaying. Philadelphia was a small church but a church growing, living in the spiritual strength and the grace of God. The Bible says, God exalts the humble.

He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the mighty. That's why he chose us. To bring him glory Second Corinthians twelve nine says, Paul writes and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul evidently was not an impressive man in person. He appeared somewhat frail. Not as authoritative not impressive in his speech or in his stature. Some believe him to be a a small man in stature, but he was used mightily of God and what set him apart? Was his faithfulness.

When kicked out of one city, when stoned and left for dead, when abused, and beaten, he got up and he went to the next city and he did it all over again. For what strength he lacked personally, he received many times more by the grace of God to continue to minister the gospel. The same could be said here. It would seem of the church at Philadelphia. The same can also be true of Missouri Avenue Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida.

In the face of opposition, this little church we see here in in verse eight, had kept the word of the Lord and had not denied his name. They had remained faithful. They had remained faithful to the word of God. Faithful to his word. You know, some of the churches Asia were struggling because they hadn't remained faithful to God's word.

They had entertained false prophets. They had entertained false teaching. They either didn't know the word or they were being led astray from it. They weren't standing upon it. They had given in.

They had compromised with false doctrines. They they didn't put all of their faith and trust in the God of the word. And so their churches were failing. Maybe they didn't seem to be failing to the world. Maybe they didn't seem to be failing even to the membership but in God's eyes, they were failing because they had compromised the doctrines of the word of God.

Maybe other churches around them, they were doing it that way. They they were being Their doctrine was changing. So, they thought, hey, well, that's that's that's the way it is today. You know, culture's changing. Therefore, we gotta change with the culture.

We gotta change with the culture in order to reach people. We gotta change with the culture in order to still be in the mainstream. You know, sad to say, Christ's testimony in this world and society is not what it used to be and Christ hasn't changed but what has? The church, church has changed. One by one, churches have stopped preaching the Bible and started preaching stories.

Philosophies, and psychology There are places for stories There are places for purpose maybe for psychology But if you want psychology, go see a psychologist. If you want to hear the preaching of God's word, come to what? Come to church. Come to church. There are too many churches today that have quit preaching God's word.

There are too many churches have quit standing on God's word. There are too many churches that have stopped contending for the faith. They have compromised. They have grown weak in their stance. Well, it it contains the word of God.

Now, there's a difference there. This glass contains water but this glass is not water. It's glass that contains water. This doesn't contain God's word because if it only contains God's word, that means that maybe some of it isn't God's word. You see, no, this doesn't contain God's word.

This is God's word. Inspired, inherent, and infallible. The church at Philadelphia believed God's word. Matthew seven twenty four, there's therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house on a rock. That's what Jesus had to say.

They were faithful. They believed God's word and they became a church built on a what? Built on a rock and despite the earthquakes and despite the persecution, they remain faithful. And a testimony for Christ remained in this city down through the centuries. They were faithful to believe it.

They were faithful to proclaim it and to defend it. We are to proclaim the word of God. We are to proclaim the gospel to every creature and we're to defend and contend for it. Jude one three, beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered under the saints. It is our responsibility to defend the word of God.

To defend it, to know it, to be able to teach it, and to keep it pure. Not allow it to be defiled, mistaught, and misquoted, and misused, and added to, and subtracted from. We are to believe it, we are to proclaim and defend it, and we are as they did to live it. In John thirteen seventeen, Jesus gave his disciples an example of humility. He washed their feet.

He said at the end of the passage this, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them but if you don't do them, they're not going to do you a whole lot of good. You see, you're going to miss out. Happy are you if you do them. And it would seem that the church of Philadelphia believed it, proclaimed it, defended it, and they actually lived it in their lives and one of the plagues among the Christian community today is they say they believe it, they might proclaim it, they probably don't defend it, And they usually don't live it.

We live more like the world often times than we do like the Lord and his word. We want to be accepted. We want to be included. We don't want to miss out on all the fun. Well, the Bible says, don't envy the world.

We're not the ones missing out. They are. We know how, we have no reason to envy them. We have Jesus. We have the peace that he gives, the joy that he gives, the love that shed abroad in our hearts.

We have eternal hope and an everlasting home reserved in heaven for us. They remain faithful to God's word and they remain faithful to his name. Had not denied his name to save their skin. Jesus promises that those who confess his name before men, he will confess before his father in heaven. Not only did they confess his name before men but they remain true to that name and to that person, Jesus Christ.

In both their profession and in their actions. A mark of sincere faith and of genuine conversion. Mighty fortress is our God was written by who? Martin Luther. He's a man who experienced persecution.

He's a man who was challenged to recant his faith and he was a man who by God's grace though little in strength. Stood firm and refused to recant the name of his savior. We may not be faced with that decision. We may not be faced with having our life taken or being thrown in prison. But sometimes we fail just because somebody might slam the door in our face or we fail to talk someone just because they we may fear they might laugh at us.

Or not listen to us or not want to be our friend. We too are of little strength but we have a great savior and the grace that is sufficient for the church of Philadelphia and the grace that is sufficient for Paul is the grace that is sufficient for us and if we will look to Jesus Christ and our faithful God, he can make in us faithful children. Who like the church of Philadelphia will stand firm and strong in the face of persecution and who like the church of Philadelphia will see many opportunities this year to minister to others in the name of Jesus, to preach and proclaim the gospel, and see many souls saved. We will finish the passage next Sunday night. Let's pray.

Dear heavenly father, we thank you Lord. For the opportunity to stand for Jesus, our faithful Lord, our holy and true God, and the one who holds the keys. Lord, we pray as a church that we might be faithful to you. We pray Lord that we would not compromise ever the word and the doctrine of scripture. We pray Lord that we might remain faithful in our actions and activities.

To make those decisions as led by the spirit of God and your word to be principled people of character and not those tossed to and fro by the winds of the world. Lord, make in us a people to your glory and a church strong in testimony so that others would see Jesus Christ in us. That he would be praised. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.