Glimpses Into Revelation--A Church On The Move Series

Iliff and Saltillo UM

July 25, 2004

“Glimpses into Revelation: A Church on the Move

Rev. 3:7-13

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write...I know thy works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.”

INTRODUCTION--The church at Philadelphia was not charged with any blame or spiritual error that needed to be corrected. There were just two of the seven churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, that were not told to repent. The other five were told to repent or else their candlestick would be removed. The Philadelphia church was the one that really knows the favor of the Lord and the one that the Lord is blessing of all the other churches. Although it was a small church, it was known for its “brotherly love” and for its faithfulness to the word of the Lord. There were not a lot of people living inside the city because of earthquakes even though the church was located in a good geographic location. The city was founded by King Attalus II in 159-138 B.C. It was a city of brotherly love even before the Christian message came to the area.

There are some key things about this church that applies to us today.

1. A Church That is Already Moving--In spite of the small size of the church or the earthquakes in the area causing fear among the residents to even live in the city, in spite of opposition by people against the new found Christianity, this church was USING WHAT IT HAD to be a FAITHFUL and COMMITTED church. They were known as a church that was moving forward, holding on to what they already had.

Jesus said, “you’ve got a LITTLE STRENGTH but you have been faithful to my word in spite of opposition.

vs. 8 Jesus said:

I know your works

You have a little strength

You have kept my word

You have not denied my name.

And BECAUSE of this he said, “I have set before you an OPEN DOOR and no man can shut it.

One of the things that is significant here is that the person who was speaking had the AUTHORITY to do just that because in verse 7 he says, “he that has the Key of David.” Back in Isaiah 22:22 the prophet refers to the authority of Jesus:

“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.”

Jesus has the authority to open a door of opportunity for this little church--in spite of anything that people could say or do or any circumstances they faced.

Many times we speak of God OPENING DOORS of opportunity for us or closing doors. We might pray in this way, “Lord open a door that I might speak to this person about Jesus, or open a door that I might get this particular job, open a door that I can get into a productive ministry--Open a door--close a door. To this small church that was ALREADY alive and moving forward in ministry, Jesus spoke, “I know what you are already doing and I am going to open more doors and no matter what the obstacles no one can shut it.”

Let’s look at our own individual lives and also the life of this church--are we an active, moving church in the community--are you an alive and vibrant Christian in your daily life?

Ask God to open doors of opportunity not only for the church collectively but for you personally. He can do it, and He has the authority to do it. Begin to see the vision of what this church can be over the next few years--how can it make a greater impact on this community as well as reach out to missions around the world? How can the new youth group become a stronger group and have open doors of ministry? How can the Men of Vision sharpen their focus for a greater impact upon men in the community? How can the women’s group expand their outreach to other women?

Even though the various groups are in place and already working well--more doors of opportunity will open for all of us if we want them to. Are we ready for the opportunities or will we miss them? When new people come to our church can we show them the brotherly love of the Philadelphia church? I think we can.

What doors of opportunity would you like the Lord to open for this church? What do we need to see happen that is not happening right now? Ask the Lord to give you the vision for it. Ask Him to help you to be totally committed to making the effort or the sacrifice to see it happen. We must be alert to the open door and not allow the opportunity to pass us by.