Hold the Door (2)

Good evening, Im very thankful to be with you all this evening. Man I really am so very excited about the work that Grace Manor is doing in our community and in our schools, the homes that will be filled, the folks who are to be fed not just physically but also spiritually thru the bread of life, that is Jesus Christ. Man so very many wonderful things happening in this ministry and Im just so thankful Cheryl for your time here with us this evening and sharing what amazing and wonderful things God is doing in and through the Grace Manor ministry.

Church if you would can we pray right now for Grace Manor, for the families that our being ministered to, for the bread of life that is being shared Father in your name and for the work that is to come, Father would you just bless this work- that it be good and beautiful and just bring praise to your name and your son. Father we love you and we thank you for your provision and your goodness that flows through Grace Manor in your mighty ways. God we thank you for this ministry and the people who work in it, would you bless them and keep them safe as they serve you. We love you, Amen.

This evening we will be working through letter 6 of the 7 Revelation letters. I hope you have been with us for the last several weeks as we have been taking a deeper dive into the Letters that John has written from Jesus’s divine authorship- in the “apocolyptic form” of his describing the plight of Christians, Gods judgements and the promises of those who are faithful to Him.

We will be working through the letter to the Church of Philadelphia. So we will be in Revelations 3: 7-13 this evening. I would love for us to read this together and then do our best to get through this letter. Man Im pumped about this letter because I think there is so much detail and awesomeness packed into this letter, that I do not think we can get through it in the next 18-20 mins, but I will try my very best.

To the Church in Philadelphia

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. 9 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. 10 Because 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. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The 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. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Now up to this point in the letters we have been pulling ou main themes of each of the letters, the titles, a commendation or good, criticism, or bad, an action step, and his promise. I dont know about you but I’ve enjoyed following this throughout the letters and seeing how each of the letters has been given by Jesus. And I will do my best to continue to show that same pattern in this letter.

But there is something awesome and unique about this letter to Philadelphia that I want to point out- there is no criticsm or concern shared to the church of Philadelphia from Jesus. Instead, we will see Jesus brings a lot of commendations to the church and calls them to action and ends with His promise .

So this letter is to Philadelphia. These next few things are so very important to understanding the context of the letter so I must encourage you to stay with me. Philadelphia stood in the foothills of the mountain range Timolus mountains which was repeatedly impacted by earthquakes and devastation which had long term impacts on the area and church including leaving the people very weak physically , spiritually and impoverished. Scholars indicate it was probably a community built by Pergamum as a gateway to Asia minor. It was a city involved in commercial trade and agriculture. It was known as “Little Athens” because there was a lot of idol and god worship in this region- related to their trades. There was a heavy Jewish presences in this region. This church faced persecution and scrutiny from the Jews of the region. as well as the Roman rule. This city may have been a church weakened by its physical location, but man it was an obedient church to Jesus and his calling. If you will remember only the church in Philadelphia and the church in Smryna received uncorrected praise from Jesus.

Now that we have the context lets jump into the letter…

The address of this letter includes the names and title which I believe really set the backdrop for that which we will spend the majority of our time tonight.

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.

The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David…. well we didnt make it very far. Man what a huge intro…

The holy one, one of Gods titles, Isaiah used this like 2 dozen times in his book as one of his favored names of God. The Holy one of Isreal, or the Holy One was a title used by Jeremiah the prophet and even the demons as Jesus casts out the man with the unclean spirit in the synagogue in Mark 1:24 ““What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.””

The Holy one… many what a way to start out, with a name even the demons recongnize and then we read next, the True one…

The True one, Revelation 19:11

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

We see in both Revelation 19 and 1 John 5 that Jesus really is the one true one. He is truth, he is unable to lie, he is trustworthy and constant always. So we have this building picture of being Holy and True, and then he adds the Key of David

Isaiah 22:22  And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open

Jesus is the son of David who will reign forever and hold the key. Not just will he hold the key he is the keeper of the Door.

John 10:7 ESV

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

John 10:9 ESV

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

See I think its critical for us to understand the names and titles used in this letter, because it helps to frame how we understand Who He is and how we are to learn from this.

Jesus is the ONLY way to enter into the people of God. Jesus is the door, that is He whom Isaiah is referring to in 22, its the one who even the demons call Holy and the whom we are in, in Jesus Christ, who brings eternal life as we read about in 1 john 5:20.

See when we know who we are referring to as when he says he “who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” It helps us to have the knowledge of Who he is. Jesus is himself the door. He is the way of salvation into eternal life. We have many hints at this through scripture about him being the door.

Psalms 118: 20  This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

Matthew 7:7 ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Jesus is the door, and He is the only way in. He holds the key and a relationship with him, truly knowing Him is crucial.

Why is this… well lets look.

Matthew 7:13 ““Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”

Luke 13:24–27 ““Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’”

Jesus is the door, and He is the only way in. He holds the key and a relationship with him, truly knowing Him is crucial. Scripture gives us his words citing the importance of knowing Jesus so that we do not see the door closed and hear him say, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you”.

Have you ever been to the bigger cities, or even maybe a really fancy hotel or apartment building and seen the Doormen? They are usually extremely well dressed folks standing at the entrance to these buildings. They are responsible for so very many things. They are the ones who greet you as you approach- they set the attitude for your day- a “good morning or good evening”, a “how are you” they make it a habit of knowing the patrons and guests of the building, often by name and face, they learn the people and their routines and begin to know so much about these folks. The provide security for the buildings and they open, close and hold the door for the patrons who are allowed to enter.

I have never visited one of these places admittedly but I would like to, and of course I am always interested when I see them on the hallmark movie channel- cause I mean they make everything look magical. But see if I was walking down the street and I wished to go into the building, I need to know the door man, and this is important the door man needs to know me. It is their duty to know my name and face, to know of me, to know whether Im permitted entrance into the building, and whether or not the door should be open or shut to me. They will not open the door if they do not know me, just my passing by does not permit me entrance to the building. I must know the doorman, and he must know me.

The door and the door man is key. Jesus is he who Holds the door. Man why have we kept talking about the door… what does it matter. Well like I said earlier there is no criticism in this letter only the good given. Picking up in V8

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.

The Good:

Jesus says I have known your works! Man thats good news, Jesus has seen the church and says I have seen your good works- Behold- I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut— Because who is the door man- Jesus… We have to know the man at the door.

He knows our works and he knows, we are of little power. Jesus is saying I see you, I see how you have been impoverished and have suffered terribly through the earthquakes but also through the condemnation by the Jews and Roman authorities in the region who have just made life hard.

I see you, I know your works, I know you are of little power and have been persecuted harshly for your refusal to worship anyone but Jesus… But Jesus is saying I see you… I held open the door for you- why because you have kept my word and you have not denied my name. You may have appeared weak and and powerless to the “World” but Im reminding you, I see you, I held the door, you have my favor as the Holy and True almighty God.

Beginning in V9 And because of that those anti-Christian Jews he refers to those who belong to Satans Synagogue, they will come and bow down at your feet, because they will see the Jesus has held the door for you, that Jesus has chosen you as the ones He loves.

V10-11. We saw the commendation in v8 I have seen your good works- Hold on he says. Because you have kept my words and kept the patient endurance Im holding the door for you… I will keep you from the trials. I am coming.

Church how can we perserves and “hold fast” during our trials as we have learned in this letter?

Yall how do we show obedience to Jesus in a world that may not understand our faith?

We must know the door and the doorman. We must persevere through our trials, To hold on to his word and his name so that no one will seize your crown. This letter sheds promise and good news to us today. This church faced all the hard ships, physical disaster, religious persecution, surrounded by idol worship and gods… sounds scary familiar to some of our circumstances right?

But He says, I’ve held the door, I’ve held it for you because I have seen how you have persevered through all of it. Hold that crown because I have exchanged my crown of thorns for you. I have taken that from you, so you do not have to wear that crown of thorns.

And I love how he closes his letter…

12 The 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.

To you who I have seen, the ones who I have seen suffer through earthquakes and physical disasters, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God- I will provide you stability, for that Revelation 21:22“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”

new temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. That door I have held open for you, you wont ever have to leave out of it, because you will be mine, you will belong to my family and my kingdom in the New Jerusalem- which comes down from heaven and I will give you a name. You will no longer be weak, you will no longer be concerned about the power or the persecution, you will be with me. You will be in my family bearing a new name given by Jesus. Rev 22:4 says They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

And then we get that beautiful promise that He has closed with, V13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Man we made it through the letter. Thank you for staying with me. Church we should be called in this letter I believe to know and be encouraged that the Holy and True Jesus is desiring to hold the door for you and I. To be reminded that he sees our works, he desires us to keep his word and through his word - we experience patient endurance so that the world will know We are loved by Him. He desires to provide us stability and truth to be grounded upon and He wants to invite us in, and call us by a name He gives us. And well if that doesnt pump you up, or mentally exhaust you- I do not know what will. But yall we can do nothing else in this moment but Worship a God who desire for us is to love him and love each other- through Him.

I leave you with this question this evening, How does understanding that Jesus Holds the door for us affect our relationship with Him and how do we apply it as we leave?

Let us pray together