The Faithful Church(Revelation 3:7-13)

I. The address to the church in philadelphia v1.

II. Description of Jesus to the Church

A. He who is Holy

B. He who is True

C. He who holds the key of David

III. Description of the Church from Jesus

A. The Church has an open door

B. The Church has little power

C. The Church has kept the Word of God

D. The Church has not denied the name of Jesus

IIII. The Rewards for the Churches Faithfulness

A. The synagogue of Satan(False Jews) will bow at their feet and know of Gods favor toward the true church

B. The church will be kept from the hour of testing

C. The church that overcomes will be a pillar in the temple of God

D. The church that overcomes will be written on them the name of God and name of the city of God

Revelation 3:7–13 (ESV)

7“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

8“ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

9Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.

10Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

11I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

12The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, 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 from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

INTRODUCTION

I. The Church in Philadelphia

v7a. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write...

Today we think about all those affected by the tragic events in florida brought on by Hurricane ian. Many people have lost their lives, their homes and everything that they have built and cared for. Their lives will never be the same. So our prayers and thoughts are with them.

Now today we are going to talk about the Church at Philadelphia. This is not the city we know of in Pennsylvania.

It was said to be a really small church

but,

a faithful church who worked hard for the Lord.

It was mission driven.

It was in a city known for producing grapes and wine

Interestingly enough, this city too experienced heartache as in 70 A.D. the people lived in fear following an earthquake as it experienced tremors from it for years to follow.

The city decided to rename itself Neo-Caesarea in honor of the emporer Tiberius who rebuilt the city following the massive earthquake.

II. Description of Jesus to the Church

v7b.-‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

A. Jesus is Holy

Holiness is the moral excellence of God that unifies his attributes and is expressed through his actions, setting him apart from all others. Believers are called to be holy as God is holy

God’s holiness made a penalty for sin necessary. God’s love endured that penalty for the transgressor and made payment of the penalty possible.

It is God’s holiness that manifests God’s love on the cross.

It is God’s love that sustains and embodies God’s holiness on the cross.

There the holiness of the love of God is once for all clarified, and the love of the holy God is fully embodied.By this holy love of God, sin has been atoned.

Jesus is not only Holy but he is true.

B. Jesus is True

David Guzik says...”There are two ancient Greek words that we might translate true.

One means “true and not false.”

The other means “true and not fake.” The ancient Greek word used here for true is the second,

with the idea of “real” or “genuine.”

Jesus is true in all of who He is; He is the real God and the real man.”

C. Jesus holds the key of David

Jesus “has the Key of David.” That looks to 1:18 and the fact that Christ “holds the keys of death and Hades.”

It also looks back to Isaiah 22:22 where the Bible says, “I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open.”

Here in Revelation 3:7 the same words appear and are again ascribed to Christ.

Jesus is “the Davidic Messiah with absolute power to control entrance to the heavenly kingdom” (Mounce, Revelation, 100).

He has the authority to admit or exclude who will come into the presence of the King.

He alone has the key that lets people into the kingdom of God.

No wonder Jesus said in John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

Only Jesus is Lord, who holds the key to the entrance into heaven and eternal life.

“Before we can welcome people to our table, we need to open the door to them”

III. Description of the Church from Jesus

v8a.- ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

A. The Church has an open door

B. The Church has little power

C. The Church has kept the Word of God

D. The Church has not denied the name of Jesus

IIII. Gods Rewards to the faithful Church

v9-12 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.

10Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

11I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

12The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, 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 from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

A. The Churches enemies will be taken care of by God

B. The church will be kept from the hour of testing

Whenever someone mentions the Rapture, another is certain to point out that the word Rapture never occurs in the Bible. While this is true, the concept of the Rapture is clearly present.

The words “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 translate from a Greek word that means “to snatch, to seize suddenly, or to transport from one place to another.” It is also used of rescuing someone from a threatening danger.

There are five main positions on the timing of the Rapture:

1. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture—the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation period begins.

a. They teach that, in the sequence of events leading up to the eternal state, there will be a period of tribulation which lasts for a total of seven years. The prophecy that Daniel received from the angel Gabriel, found in Daniel 9, states that there will be a future seven-year period of tribulation upon the people of Israel, commonly called “Daniel’s 70th week”

2. The Mid-Tribulation Rapture—the Rapture will occur at the midpoint of the Tribulation.

3. The Post-Tribulation Rapture—the Rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation, right before the second coming of Christ to earth.

a. that the church will pass through a future tribulation prior to being removed from the earth by Christ. The church will be protected by God as it experiences continual tribulation, but the church will not experience the wrath of God. Posttribulationists do not think that the church will be raptured prior to the second coming of Christ but will meet him in the air as he comes to judge the earth.

4. The Partial Rapture—This is a less popular view. That the faithful, devoted believers will be raptured before the Tribulation, but the rest of the believers who are carnal and lukewarm will be left to go through the purging of the Tribulation.

5. The Pre-Wrath Rapture—the Rapture will occur about three-fourths (five and one-quarter years) of the way through the Tribulation, when the wrath of God begins to be poured out on the earth at the seventh seal (Rev. 6:17).

I’ll do what my professor in Bible College did to me. I won’t tell you which one to believe but i’ll have you come up with your own conclusion on the matter. The important thing to know is that Jesus will return and we better be ready

C. The church that overcomes will be honored by God

The promise of a pillar

God concludes this letter with a twofold promise to “the victor.” First, our Lord “will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go out again.”

To a people continually threatened by earthquakes and the need to flee the city when they come, this word would speak powerfully to their hearts.

Alan Johnson notes, “Often the only parts of a city left standing after a severe quake were the huge stone temple columns [pillars]”

Revelation 21:22 tells us in the new Jerusalem “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

To be a pillar of Christ puts the believer in a position of absolute and complete surrender. No disruption, disturbance, or disaster will ever separate us from our Savior.

As Romans 8:38–39 beautifully testifies,For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

b. The Promise of a new name

The second promise is, “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 My new name.” The church at Philadelphia had a good name, a wonderful reputation in heaven. Jesus promises them, “It will only get better.” Because they had not been ashamed to identify themselves with Jesus, our Lord is not ashamed to identify Himself with them. Three times Jesus promises them a new name of blessing and honor.

V. APPLICATION

In a very real sense, the church today is like the Philadelphian church, for God has set before us many open doors of opportunity.

If He opens the doors, we must work; if He shuts the doors, we must wait.

Above all, we must be faithful to Him and see the opportunities, not the obstacles. If we miss our opportunities, we lose our rewards (crowns), and this means being ashamed before Him when He comes