Seven Churches- Just Do It-The Fatihful Church

Just Do It-The Fatihful Church

Summary: How does the church of Philadelphia compare to our church? 6th in the series of the Seven Churches of Revelation. Of all 7 churches of Asia Minor, here’s the one we want to emulate -- Philadelphia: 1. Highly commended 2. Deeply challenged 3. Greatly compensated

Scripture: Revelation 3:7-13

Series: Seven Churches

Date:10, November 2017

To the Church of Philadelphia

In this series on the Seven Churches, we have examined the Churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira and Sardis. Today we will examine the Church of Philadelphia and not only how our church compares to it, but also how we as individual Christians compare to the Christians in Philadelphia.

Let’s stand as we read God’s Holy Word: Revelation 3:7-13 KJV

7 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;

8 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 hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

9 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.

10 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.

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write 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 my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

In USA, Yazoo, MS… in the 1930’s… the Great Depression. People didn’t have extra money / children especially had no extra money for candy / people would go to general store and get a big jar of molasses, go home and make their own candy / it was kept in big wooden barrel in middle of store / people filled their jars there…

6 year old boy got a sweet tooth / slipped finger into the barrel, then into his mouth / owner scolded him: ‘that’s unsanitary’ / kid was embarrassed, left / few days later his tongue guided him there again / did same again…was caught again / this time man took him by arm and escorted him out firmly…spanked him / you’d think he’d learn his lesson, but 10 days later he did it again, but before he could get it to his mouth, owner caught him red handed / he picked him up, turned him upside-down and, yes, dipped him in head first / last thing you could hear as he was lowered was a prayer, “Lord, give me a tongue equal to this opportunity!”

Now, anytime God gives a great opportunity, there will be obstacles set by Satan. Anytime God tries to bless, the devil tries to blast! Such is the case w/ the church at Philadelphia, seen on the map here.

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Background - We are on the 6th church on the Postal route. Philadelphia was the youngest of all the seven cities of Revelation.

A. Name - Philadelphia in original language "One who loves his brother."

-This is not USA's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it’s Philadelphia, Turkey, Asia Minor.

B. Church to belong - It’s the best of the seven churches. There is no criticism from the Lord. There is only praise.

-This town was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture to Lydia and Phrygia (Regions).

Eg: Owatonna town planted here to effect Rochester and Mankato. Town Philadelphia was so effective 150 years Lydians and Phrygia forgot own language and became influenced by the Greek culture and language.

Point: Church in Philadelphia influenced a large region, many people came through this city and were affected by Christianity because of the faithfulness of this small church.

-This church was a powerhouse.

C. Philadelphia was founded by the citizens of Pergamum to create a gateway to the central plateau of Asia Minor. This city was often damaged by earthquakes, which resulted in a fear that kept a large part of the population from living within the city walls. Today there still exist a town on the ancient site of Philadelphia called Alasehir in Turkey, having a population of around 15,000. The word Philadelphia comes from two Greek words: PHILEO, which means, "love" and the word ADELPHOS, which means "brother." Thus the name Philadelphia means "brotherly love."

II. PHILADELPHIA— JUST DO IT-THE FATIHFUL CHURCH

We’ve seen a lot of criticism from our Lord in the first 5 letters. But you’ll notice that to the church at Philadelphia, there’s not one negative word…not a hint of rebuke.

Of all these 7 churches, this is the one we want to be at TPHIM! If you’ve been here for this series, you’ll remember that each of these 7 churches represents a type of church. All 7 were real in John’s day, and all were at different levels spiritually. They represent 7 periods of church history, from the time of Christ, to these last days we now live in. The Philadelphia period was a time of the greatest revival the world has ever known, and took place from approximately 1700-1900 A.D. But you could place its existence between A.D. 33 and The Rapture! For Jesus has always had true followers in every age. They may have been few in number in the dark ages…Thyatira…but there’s never been less than today, in the Laodicean church age, the last days of this age of grace!

The goal is to be a present day Philadelphia church... to bring that spirit of the past to the present. Of all these 7 churches, this is the one we want to emulate! This is the church we want to be like. The Lord says to them, you’re doing a great job, keep up the good work.

 A. Revelation 3:11-13—The Counselor

Rev 3:11-12

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write 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 my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

If we overcome, as did the church of Philadelphia, we will be honored in God’s temple and always be with Him and we will always belong to Him. When we accept Christ as our Savior our names are written in the Book of Life. We belong to God and nothing can take that away from us. When I married my wife, she took on my  last name and that meant that she belonged to me and not to some other man. It is the same with God. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are wed into the kingdom of God and we take on God’s name and we belong to Him forever. We will live with Christ forever in the New Jerusalem to come. I can’t wait! What about you?

 Rev 3:13

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches..

Again Jesus warns us that we need to listen to what He is saying to the seven churches for it applies to us today just as much as it applied to the seven churches of Asia.

Today we have looked at a church that Jesus was well pleased with. He was pleased with works of the church and the people. I can’t wait to meet the congregation of the church of Philadelphia. They must be a wonderful group. Think about it. They didn’t criticize the pastor’s sermons, or the music minister’s choice of music. There wasn’t a power struggle on who would make the decisions on how the church was to be run. Everyone got along. They loved everyone. They didn’t complain or get angry. They loved Christ so much that all they wanted to do was to please Him and obey all of His teachings. Wouldn’t it be great if our church was like that? If it were we would have to build a gigantic building because everyone in town would want to be a member and we would have to buy several more vans so we could pick up all of the youth that would want to attend. (But who would drive the vans?)

B. Rev 3:8-10—The Commendation

Let’s look first of all at the One Who commends them:

Notice how the Lord introduces Himself to this church:

v. 7 “holy…true” Why say this? Probably because the city in which this church was located, Philadelphia, was filled w/ heathenism and paganism. There were pagan temples on every corner / so many heathen shrines that Philadelphia was nicknamed “little Athens”.

Jesus Christ says to this church, “these things saith He that is holy…” which is tantamount to saying, “I am God.” And He is! The only real and living God…the God of all gods!”

Then Jesus goes a step further and says, “I am He that is true”. That could be translated, “He that is genuine…He that is original!” The Greek gods had been manufactured, and there were hundreds of them, but only Jesus Christ could rightfully claim to be the one and only true God. He’s the only 1 to claim to be God, and then prove it by conquering death.

He that is Holy, He that is True, and… …He that hath the key of David…openeth / shutteth

What is He talking about here?

Background is found is Isa. 22.22, speaking of a man named Eliakim, the treasurer of David:

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, was given the key to the house of David during the reign of King Hexekiah. The key was carried on a cord hung over the shoulder and the key unlocked the house of David which contained all the treasures of the kings of Judah and also housed the government. So Eliakim controlled who could come into the house of David and also who could not. He had the authority to do so. Jesus in the same sense holds the key to the New Jerusalem that is coming when he returns. Christ holds the key; thus He controls who gets in and who does not. There is no one else who can open or close this door. Christ has the authority to say who will enter the kingdom of God. No one comes unto the Father except through Christ. Eliakim was an OT picture of Jesus Christ. He was a picture of the dependable, faithful administrator of the affairs of God’s people. This is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is in full control.

The world is in some of the most uncertain times in history right now, and who can possibly keep up w/ what’s going on in Israel lately, that hub of all Bible prophecy, and of the end times?! But one thing we can know for sure, is that Jesus is in full control! I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future!!

He alone can open doors, and when He opens, no mere man can shut. He alone can shut doors, and when He does, don’t even try to pry them open! In Genesis, God shut the door of the ark… the rains came, and no one could get in or out. And you might as well run out into the yard when you hear the tornado sirens, and hold out your hand like this, and argue w/ that tornado, rather than to try to open a door God has shut!

The theme of this letter is revival and evangelism. And Jesus presents Himself as the One Who holds the key of David, who opens and closes doors… in other words, He is the Lord of the Harvest / Head of the Church / Sovereign Ruler of the Kingdom of God… and it doesn’t matter what happens at The parliament hall in New Delhi, Assembly hall, in Bangalore, in USA in Israel or Iran or N. Korea, He still sits on the throne, and is in full control!

For this reason as we look at Revelation / Bible prophecy / end times, you won’t be hearing from a doom and gloom preacher… we won’t suffer from “headline hysteria” as we study this book, because we know that no matter what happens, He’s still on the throne!

Philadelphia was filled w/ idolatry and paganism. But the darker the atmosphere is, the brighter the light of truth will shine! The Philadelphia Church was a bright light in a dark world, and any true Philadelphia Church in the 21st century will stick out like a sore thumb… it will take a bold stand for Christ… and its people will be different from the world!

That’s v. 7, the One Who commends… now look at the actual commendation itself:

v. 8 2-fold commendation…

“hast kept my Word, and hast not denied my Name”

That’s what we want to shoot for as a church…to stand before God one day, and to hear Him say, you have kept My Word, and not denied My Name.

What does it mean to “keep His Word”?

To remain doctrinally true. To place a high priority on doctrinal purity.

Don’t miss this, because we live in a day in which doctrine is cast aside in the name of ecumenicalism… which is the road to the One-World Church. The politically-correct church today jumps on board the train of ecumenicalism, and toots its horn about “tearing down the walls that divide us”, and “let’s just get together, regardless of what we believe.”

I don’t say we all have to dot every i and cross every t the same way, but certainly there are a core set of Biblical beliefs that should be considered “non-negotiable”.

They say, tear down the walls. And if you’re talking about walls of bigotry, and walls of prejudice, I say, Amen brother, let the walls come down! I have many great friends in the ministry of many differing races. Let that wall of race that separates us come down!

If you’re talking about walls of jealousy between the good Bible-preaching churches that remain, I’m all for it! It’s high time we see each other as teammates, and not competition.

If you’re talking about walls of preferences that divide our churches, I’m with you. Since when are we supposed to make methods and preferences our gods? From time to time I see pastors in town, or at the hospital, and as we talk, I see that while we may do things differently, and may even believe differently about some sideline issues, we agree on the main thing which is Jesus Christ, and salvation by grace alone thru faith alone, and I can look at them and say, God bless you brother! I love you in the Lord! Because Jesus said, “He that is not against us is for us”.

If you’re talking about tearing down that wall of sideline issues, I’m with you!

If you’re talking about tearing down a senseless wall of preference, I’m saying, “Give me a crowbar!”

If you’re talking about tearing down walls or castecism, racism, jealousy, preferences, methods, and side-line issues, I’m on board.

But if you’re talking about tearing down walls of doctrinal truth, I say, I’m not touching a wall that God built! We have a Biblical mandate to contend for the faith, and to separate from those who walk contrary to the gospel.

Rom. 16.17

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

The very next verse says…

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

II Tim. 2.16-18

16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

The Lord Jesus Christ commended the church at Philadelphia because they did not deny Him. And every day you and I come face to face w/ crisis decisions--whether we will take our stand or not, whether we’re in or out, whether we are for Him or against Him! Am I going to speak like a Christian? What am I posting online for the world to see? You can’t keep riding the fence on this one!

My prayer is that you and I…we…will take our stand, and not be ashamed of our great God!

C. Revelation 3.9—No Correction But the Promise

Most of us have had the experience of going to the doctor or the dentist, and having an X-ray ordered.  A doctor orders an X-ray when he wants to see beneath the surface…the true condition.

These 7 letters are God’s X-rays of these churches, as the Lord Jesus looks beneath the surface, to see their true condition.  It has been very revealing.

These 7 letters were given that we might examine our own lives, and our own church.

In the X-ray of the Philadelphia church, there is not one negative condition revealed.  There is not even a hint of rebuke in this letter.  That tells me that of all 7 churches, this is the one we want to be like…a Philadelphia church. Christ had no condemnation for this church. This church appears to be a small church, but one that is obeying the teachings of Christ. The church of Philadelphia, as the name implies, must have loved one and another, even their enemies. There must have been a continuous revival going on. Do you think Christ would have any condemnations for our church? If so what would they be?

Rev 3:9

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.

I am going out on a limb on my commentary of this verse. I have not read anyone else that gives a commentary like the one I am about to give. We have many false religions and cults today that claim that they are Christians. I believe that Christ is referring to these people in the above verse. There are even people sitting in our churches today that claim to be Christians, but have not really accepted Christ as their Savior. The time will come when the truth will be known. The day will come when these so called Christians, but really members of the synagogue of Satan, will fall down at our feet and acknowledge that we are the true children of God. What a day that will be! If you have been attending church for years and everyone thinks that you are a Christian, but you know that you haven’t really accepted Christ as your Savior and confessed it with your mouth, then read the above verse again. Sitting in church 3 or 4 times a week doesn’t get you into heaven. You may feel embarrass to walk the aisle after all these years of pretending to be a Christian, but what is the consequence if you don’t. What do you prefer; a little embarrassment or spending eternity in hell?

D. Revelation 2:24-25—The Counsel

 Deeply challenged church

It’s always been hard to live for God…it’s always been a matter of swimming against the current of this world.

They faced some major obstacles:

A. Their own lack of strength

v. 8 “thou hast a little strength” (resources/abilities/ talents/finances)

They might have been low in number / limited in gifts and abilities and talents / not the wealthy white collar church of Dr.’s and Lawyers, they were real people struggling to make ends meet.

I predict that if you were to visit all 7 of these churches, and were to look only at the externals, Philadelphia would be the church you’d be least impressed with. Even though it’s highest on God’s list!

A large crowd doesn’t necessarily mean God is blessing…and a small crowd doesn’t necessarily mean God isn’t blessing. A large crowd can be built by a salesman preacher who puts on a good show… even though it can’t last, and I’d hate to be the guy that follows him, if it’s built on a man instead of Christ.[Programs/ Promotion/Compromise/Ear-tickling]

The only thing we know for sure when there’s a large crowd is… there’s a lot of people here!

Often we think if the crowd is down, that things aren’t right, and God isn’t blessing… well, let’s consult the Word:

“And from that point on, many went back, and followed Him no more.” (Jesus fed 5,000 one day / next day preached on commitment!)

A small crowd could mean God is not blessing, true... or,

Uncommitment of people / priorities out of line / disunity “house divided CANNOT stand”

A small crowd could mean, the church is taking a strong stand for God, and it offends a lot of people. It could be that the Bible is true when it says, “narrow is the gate of righteousness, and few there be that find it!”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making excuses that we’re not running 1,000 yet. That’s a vision we’ve received, and a goal we’re working toward, but it’s not the only goal! You cannot always equate numbers w/ success! We’re not called to be successful anyway, we’re called to be faithful.

I believe God is interested in numbers, because there’s a great number of people who need to be saved, thousands within a couple blocks of here! And it can only happen as we are faithful to Him who calleth us, who also will do it! And He’ll do it, not because of us so much as thru us, and sometimes despite us and our weaknesses… “We have a little strength” (in and of ourselves), but we have a great big strong God Who has promised rich blessings to us if we’ll be faithful!

So, externally, we wouldn’t be too impressed w/ this church. It was a deeply challenged church…limited resources.

B. PERSECUTION

v.9 The unconverted Jews would persecute Christian Jews saying, “You’re no longer a Jew, you’re not one of us, we disown you.” The fact of the matter is, Biblically, the only true Jew is a Messianic Jew, a Jew that received Jesus as His Messiah and Savior!

“All who live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” That point was driven home in our letter to Smyrna… if you’re not being persecuted some for your faith, you’re not taking your stand / living Godly!

And when we’re persecuted, we’re supposed to respond to our persecutors in love, not hate them, not give up on them.

v. 10 “Synagogue of Satan”—Jesus knew Satan was behind that persecution… so hate Satan! But love that one who’s making fun of you.

E. REVELATION 2:26-29—THE COMMITMENT

3 great promises Christ makes to this church, and makes to us if we’ll be a Philadelphia church.

A. He’ll take care of their enemies (we just read that)

One day unbelievers will bow down and say, “The Christians were right” Skeptics / media / Hollywood / Muslims / works salvation crowd / social gospel / homosexuals / abortionists / militant feminists / new world order that says, “all that’s in the way of world peace now is the narrow-minded, bigoted Christians” …they’re gonna get their shot at world peace, we’re gonna be removed, and peace will fail, and they’ll have to say… “The Christians were right.”

He’s promised to take care of our enemies… our job is to be faithful!

B. He’ll deliver them from the hour of temptation

v. 11 Rapture / tribulation (evacuation)

C. He promises to honor them

v.12 “Pillar”—in ancient times, cities would erect pillars as tributes to great people… and they would write their name on it. Well, in God’s Kingdom, the pillars are those who were faithful.

The bottom line of this letter: It Pays to Serve God!

I know, it’s easy to focus on the struggles of this life / cost of serving God, but in the end, there is no wrong, that won’t be righted / loss, compensated / heartache, swallowed up in joy / cost, rewarded.

II Cor. 4.18

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

III. CONCLUSION—BE AN OVERCOMER

The faithful Christian will be a pillar in the temple of God

1. This may be a promise of security.

-You see the city of Philadelphia was terrorized by recurring earthquakes, the citizens would flee into the open country to escape. Life was lived in an atmosphere of insecurity.

-Lord promising security, stability to those who overcome.

2. There are 5 crowns a Christian can win, and this verse 11 says it’s possible to lose a crown by not continuing in the faithfulness that earned it for you. 

But, here on earth, you can lose the joy of it, if you’re not faithful to Him!

…and in Heaven, you may or may not  lose your place there, but you can lose your reward, if you’re not faithful to Him now!

I feel sorry for some who would say, Ah, I don’t care if I have rewards there, as long as I get there.  All I can say is, according to God’s Word, you’ll care when you get there!

As your pastor, I want to ask you to take a step up in faithfulness…rise to a new level…look for a way…and do it!

We can’t all sing, but we can all be faithful / preach / lead / teach

3. Today we have learned the Jesus holds the key to heaven and hell. 

He is the one who knows if you have accepted Him as your Savior and Lord. If you haven’t, do it now. You may not have another chance. Don’t worry about what others or your friends may think. They can’t save you and they may even need Christ. Worry about where you will spend eternity if you don’t accept Jesus Christ as you Savior. You have heard the message, now it is time to make a decision. The Holy Spirit is calling you, are you ready to make that commitment? I pray that you will come now and accept Jesus as your Savior. You may say that you don’t know how or that you life is too messed up for Jesus to love and accept you. All of that doesn’t matter. Jesus loves you more than you can realize. Walk the aisle now and we will help you with what you need to say to accept Christ.

Come now.