Revelation 3:7-13 (NKJV)
A Message to the Church in Philadelphia
January 1, 2023
Of our Lord’s seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor, only two did not receive any sort of chastisement or correction. One was the letter to the church in Smyrna and the other is this letter to the church in Philadelphia from which we draw our lesson today. He comes to them with no words of complaint, but only words of praise and words of promise and words of power. In this message to the Church in Philadelphia we see the Sovereign One, the Strong One and the Secure One!
I. The Sovereign One – Jesus is speaking to a church that is striving to be holy in the midst of a corrupt and sinful world. He comes to say to them: “It is possible to live for God! I am holy, and therefore you must be holy too.” Jesus says it is…
He who is Holy – The word “holy” tells us that Jesus is sinless and pure, 1 Peter 2:22. Hebrews 7:26 “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens… For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.” Jesus is Holy and we are called to be holy like Him (1 Peter 1:15).
He who is True – The word “true” here means “that which is genuine”. He is the real Savior; He is the only genuine Lord. “I am the way the truth and the life!” John 14:16. We live in an age when many things are mere IMITATIONS. We have sugar substitutes, salt substitutes and meat substitutes. We have faux fur and fake leather. We have rent-a-dates and virtual relationships. We are surrounded by the pretend. So Jesus reminds us that at least one thing is real! He is real! When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you got in relationship with someone that is real! Salvation is real! Grace is real! Heaven is real! The Spirit is real! The Word is real! Prayer is real! Because His Power is real!
He who has the keys of David and who opens and closes doors - Jesus identifies Himself as the One Who is in control! He is the Sovereign One because…
He Carries The Keys – Jesus says that He has “the key of David”. Isaiah 9:6 says that God placed on His Son, His kingdom and His government. Keys grant you authority, access and accountability. Not only does He have the keys, Jesus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed...”
He Controls The Doors – Jesus is in the business of opening and closing doors in the lives of His people. ILLS: Motivational speaker, Les Brown “The Richest Place on Earth.” When God opens a door of opportunity in your life; run through it as fast as you can, but by the same token, when He closes a door, don’t try to force it open. You don’t want to be where God doesn’t want you to be. The path to blessing is to be where the Lord wants us to be, when He wants us to be there. There will be times along the way when God lines things up for His church. He may give us an opportunity to make inroads into our community. He may give an open door to ministry in schools. When that open door comes, it is not a time for delay. It is a time for faith and action. We need to pray that God will give us wisdom to see the doors when He opens them and stop when closes them.
II. The Strong One – Jesus says, “thou hast a little strength”. This may mean that they were small in number and lacking in academic, political and financial influence. They were weak, but in their weakness, He is made strong. Jesus said to Paul, “for My power is made perfect in weakness.” They were weak, but they were making a tremendous impact on their city! Why? They had kept His Word. They were good, pure and strong in their doctrine. They had not denied His Name. Romans 1 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” They were not ashamed of Jesus or God’s plan for salvation. In the fullness of time God chose a place and a people to be the ambassadors for His kingdom of grace. And with a few Jewish fishermen Jesus changed the world! But Jesus said that there are some “which say they are Jews and are not.” This church is suffering at the hands of people who claim to love God but are lying! They have rejected their Messiah and they are headed to Hell. We live in a time when people are lying about their religion. Someone told me many years ago that they were not religious, they were spiritual. I asked, “Did they know that satin is spiritual too and what did that get him?” A one way ticket to hell! A recently elected politician said that he was Jew-“ish” and no one in his leadership has demanded an apology from him! He suffered no consequences. Leadership matters! When you let the leaders get away with immorality it’s hard to challenge the immoral laity! How long did we let priests molest the altar boys and say nothing? How long did we let pastors rob the people and say nothing? How long did we let deacons commit adultery and say nothing? But you who kept my word and have not denied my name, I am going to place you above the liars of the world, and they will know that I have loved you. Hold on! He will show them!
III. The Secure One – Because you kept my word, I am going to save you from the hour of trial which will come upon the whole world. Jesus is coming and He is going to remove His church before He pours our His wrath upon this world, 1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Jesus tells these believers that He will set them as a pillar in God’s temple and they will go out no more. Jesus promises them that they will enjoy stability and security in His kingdom. Then Jesus says that His people will be identified with The Creator; with The City; and with The Christ – He said that He will put His name on them! Jesus writes God’s name on them because He has redeemed them and they are His forever! He places the name of the city on them because they are headed for glory. He writes a new name for Himself on them because in the Old Testament they called Him Jehovah, in the New Testament we call Him Jesus, but in Glory we will call Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We will call Him Faithful and True! A He will write on us a name that only He knows Himself! When the girls were small, we took them to see “Toy Story” and they told me that their Sunday School teacher said that God has written His name is their heart! As I studied this lesson, I found out that not only is God’s name on us, but God says in Isaiah 49:16 “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” Whenever Jesus looks at the holes in His hands made from the Cross of Calvary He will always see us!
