Pursuing Resilience in Revelation | Power for Purity

Revelation 3:7–13 NASB 2020

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and have not denied My name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My word of perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of the testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who live on the earth. I am coming quickly; hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; 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 out of heaven from My God, and My new name. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Intro

Who is writing?

Christ who reveals Himself as holy, true, sovereign, and unthwartable.

Who is the letter to?

To the church in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

Philadelphia was a hub for commerce and agriculture. They were famous for growing grapes and had a prominent temple to the goddess Dionysus. Because their temple was consider a provincial temple, the city earned the title “keeper of the temple.”

So clearly, Philadelphia was a proud city and was an important hub in the Roman Empire.

What is the occasion?

To encourage the church to continue walking in faithfulness and moving forward in ministry.

Discover

(What truth is God teaching us through this text?)

I. Christ is the Sovereign Lord who does all that He pleases. (7)

He is holy.

He is true.

He holds the key of David.

He opens every door he wants and no one can stop Him.

II. Those who are true to Christ will always have an open door with Him. (8-9)

The world may close its doors to us, but Christ’s door is always open to us.

Those who rejected us will bow down before us.

III. Those who remain true to Christ will not face God’s judgement on the world. (10-11)

No Christian will experience the judgement of God over sin.

No Christian will experience the sting of death.

No Christian will feel even a tinge of the flames of Hell.

IV. Those who overcome in Christ have a permanent place in His family. (12-13)

Christ will make us pillars.

Christ will write the Father’s name on us.

Christ will write the name of the city of our true citizenship on us.

Christ will write His new name on us, confirming that we are forever His.

Nurture

(What does this text tell me about who God is and who I am in Him?)

Who is God? He is the Lord who has unimpeachable dominion over all things.

What has God done? He has given us a place in His family through Christ and His work on our behalf.

Who are we? We are those for whom Christ has opened the door into His kingdom.

What will we do? We will persevere in His word, refusing to allow our own will, or the world, our sin nature, or devils to detour us.

Philippians 2:5–8 NASB 2020

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.

Act

(What is God calling us to do?)

Do you want to be a pillar in God’s house? Then you must resolve yourself to let nothing keep you from living the life Christ has for you. You must fight daily through the word, prayer, and whatever means necessary to take hold of the eternal life which is yours.

Philippians 3:8–11 NASB 2020

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.