The Faithful Church, Part 2
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Outline
Outline
Big Idea:
Each of the seven letters has the same elements. (Borrowed from John MacArthur)
The Correspondent
The Church
The City
The Commendation
The Concern
The Command
The Counsel
Introduction
Introduction
Let’s read the letter together…
Revelation 3:7-13.
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.’
Let’s jump right in.
Body
Body
The Commendation
The Commendation
Revelation 3:8-10.
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.
I know your works…
I know your works…
Oida…Know FULLY and COMPLETELY, same as he uses with the other churches.
You have kept my word…
You have not denied my name…
EVEN in the face of being overrun by Muslims, they would not depart from the truth or from God.
This is a HUGE commendation.
Behold
Behold
Prompter of attention to take note
Marker of STRONG emphasis
USED 3 three times in this short span.
BEHOLD
I have set before you an open door
BEHOLD
I will make those who think they are Jews...to bow before you, to know that I have loved you
I have set before you an open door
I have set before you an open door
Two possible interpretations here, both of which may be quite possible and probable.
One
Their salvation and entrance into God’s eternal kingdom is SURE and SECURE.
Those who think they are Jews, but are not and are really of the Synagogue of Satan, may well have been declaring their rejection by God because of their embracing of Jesus, the blasphemer.
This may have been a reminder and an assurance by God, NOT to listen to their opponents. Their position with God was absolutely secure. Their faith and repentance assures it.
God holds the keys of David.
He alone opens and shuts
These religious leaders would have no authority or right to make any such declarations.
Maybe there was uncertainty on their part, doubt, fears, what if we were wrong? If so, this could have been God’s assurance to them, our salvation AND your eternal future is secure. I AM THE HOLD holding the keys to it, and I have thus said.
Two
You may remember that a Pergamenian king founded Philadelphia. Eumenes or Attalus.
It was named in honor Attalus, whose love and devotion to his brother was honorary.
However, the REASON for Philadelphia’s founding was for the “consolidating, regulating, and educating the central regions that were subject to the Pergamenian kings.
The kings wanted Philadelphia to be a hub for the Greco-Asiatic civilization, spreading the Greek language and culture to the lands.
Philadelphia, as a city, has a missionary purpose even from its very founding. Not a biblical one, necessarily, but a missionary purpose nonetheless.
Jesus could well be playing off this root and understanding and making a word play that God was opening up his own missionary purpose and “open door” for the gospel from the church at Philadelphia.
This picture of an “open door” is used in other places to depict a opportunity and readiness for the gospel.
1 Cor 16:8-9, 2 Cor 2:12, Col 4:2-3.
8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord,
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—
It is likely that one of these two possibilities, or both of them, are in view with what Christ intended.
I know you have little power
I know you have little power
The church at Philadelphia was a small church, not large and mighty
And yet…they had great influence in their city.
They may have even been poor, from the lower class.
They may have had little to cause them to stand out.
This is not a rebuke or a criticism to the church.
Rather, it is a commendation of their strength and faithfulness.
Though they were little, they were being faithful and having a powerful influence throughout their city.
The gospel was going forth.
People were being redeemed.
Christ was being exalted.
Despite being small in numbers…
No, they may not have been large, but they were influential.
There is a lesson here for us.
You do not need to be large and powerful to be influential, to be used by God.
The gospel can live and go forth in a powerful way from even a handful of people who are faithful to the call.
Yet you have kept my word
Yet you have kept my word
The church at Philadelphia was obedient.
They kept the Word of God.
Meaning, they kept it close to their hearts and minds.
They kept it, in terms of not breaking, departing, or moving away from it.
They not only kept it, stored it in their hearts, they lived it out. They held to it. They upheld it.
They did not deviate from it.
Church, obedience shows your faith, your belief.
Obedience is a display of love.
John 14:23-24.
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
Obedience is the external manifestation of an internal reality.
I might add, though I have mentioned it before, obedience is MORE a matter of the heart, than it is a compliance with one’s commands and instructions.
We can outwardly comply while inwardly grumbling, complaining, and rebellion all the while. I would submit to you that though the outward actions completed the task expected, it wasn’t obedience. It was merely compliance.
Obedience is IMMEDIATE, JOYFUL, WILLING, and COMPLETE.
The church at Philadelphia obeyed the word. They kept it.
Because they wanted to. They LOVED to.
And not denied my name
And not denied my name
They would not…
They did not…
Recant.
They did not deny the person and work of Christ.
They did not deny their faith in and devotion to the God.
The warnings of the end days tell us that many will “fall away.” Many who profess Christ, who have lived for years as if they were His, will stop. They will turn back. They will reveal their complete utter lack of faith all that time.
Others, perhaps, genuinely His children, may get lured and drawn into sin and wander away from God, needing to be rebuked and drawn back.
Point is, not all can say that they refused to deny His name. Not all can claim unwavering faithfulness to Him
In the face of the Jews, that synagogue of Satan, it may have been easy to back down and return to that which was familiar and easy.
In light of the philosophical jargon being spouted by the intellectual in Philadelphia, it could have been easy to drift into their ideals.
It is always easier to compromise, to not risk the displeasure of others, by holding unwaveringly to what you know to be true.
But they did it. They did not waver.
They kept his word.
They held fast to his name.
And thus…
I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan Bow Before You
I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan Bow Before You
We saw earlier that those who are Jews, who think they are of God, are in fact of the Synagogue of Satan having refused God Himself when he showed up before them.
Paul makes clear that, though they are biologically Jews, they are not Jews.
In Romans 2:28-29, Paul defines who a TRUE Jew is…
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Thus, those who thought they were Jews, weren’t. They had denied God and rejected Him when His very presence stood before them.
Thus, we said their bowing before the saints would be an acknowledgment of that reality.
However, there is likely even a little more to it.
There may well be an element of vindication for the Church and their suffering at the hands of the synagogue of Satan.
Their bowing will be an acknowledgment that they had been wrong and that the saints had been right.
This will not be a bowing in worship…for none are to be worshipped besides God and God alone
Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8, citing Dt 6:13…
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
Exodus 20 makes clear that God will not suffer any other to be worshipped…
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
So, this bowing will not be in worship.
Bowing before another has always been about submission, about defeat. It is about coming before another, realizing you are at their mercy, you are under their authority, control.
The enemy’s of the church at Philadelphia would be defeated. They would not be victorious. They would not overcome the church.
In fact, the imagery is borrowed from the OT…
Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 60:14.
In these passages, the Gentile unbelievers will bow before the believing remnant of Israel.
Philadelphia’s faithfulness would be rewarded with their protection and, quite possibly, the salvation (bowing in defeat of their way and in surrender to God) of some of the very Jews who stood opposed to them and persecuted them.
The promise
The promise
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.
Because they had kept his word….
Because they had patiently endured through their trials
Because they had not denied His name…
Here is the promise he is giving to them.
I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on earth.
This statement has been interpreted and understood in a variety of ways.
Some believe that this means only that God will keep them from hard times coming sometime in their immediate future, that it affects only them as a church.
However, this does not seem to fit well with the context. The suffering to come will affect THE WHOLE earth. The likes of which we have not seen since the flood. Nothing in history since this time would fit this description of the WHOLE earth being affected.
Most seem to believe that this does refer, at least in some way or some partial way, to the tribulation period, the coming of trouble and trial in the end times.
However, some have taken it to mean that ONLY the faithful churches will be exempt fro the tribulation, that is is prize, a reward to be won if we are found faithful.
For those who believe in a mid-trib rapture, they believe that the church will be spared from the worst of the tribulation period but will still have to go through the first half.
For those who hold to a post-trib rapture, it is believed that this means simply that they will experience some sort of protection and preservation through the terrible ordeal that will come upon the earth.
However, neither the mid or the post positions seem to be supported by the text. The Greek word we translate “From” (I will keep you from…_) is ek. It means OUT FROM or AWAY FROM. Meaning, God will keep them OUT FROM or AWAY FROM the coming trial. Not see them safely through, but physically REMOVE THEM FROM it.
If God had intended to communicate that He would protect the church in the midst of the trial, he would have used the Greek preposition en (in). En is used three time with the verb tereo (keep) in the New Testament (Acts 12:5; 1 Peter 1:4; Jude 21). Each time it implied a previous existence within, with a view to continuing in. However, tereo (Keep) together with ek (from) suggests the complete opposite…continuous existence OUTSIDE.
John uses this same phrase tereo ek in John 17:15 when he Jesus prays, not for God take us out of the world but to KEEP Them FROM the evil one. Certainly, as ones who have been delivered from darkness and into light, Jesus was not praying for God to preserve us IN Satan, for we are no longer part of his kingdom. We have been delivered. Again here in John 17, where the same phrase is used, the idea is to being completely removed from, not protected within.
Another problem with the idea that God intends to simply protect and preserve the church in the midst of the tribulation is that, frankly, many of the Christians, the followers WILL NOT be preserved through the tribulation. Many will be martyred. Many will be killed. The tribulation will be all out war on believers and many will not live to see the end. This would then invalidate the promise to protect and keep them from it.
Some have tried to suggest that it is a promise only that they would be protected from God’s wrath BUT that God would permit the antichrist and Satan to kill them instead. This would provide little comfort to the church though and does not seem to be strong argument for the church be present during the tribulation.
The nature of the trial is to TEST and TRY those who remain on earth. It will expose people for who they really are AND bring judgment upon them.
Here is another point that I believe must be made as we consider these ends times.
As we will see throughout Revelation…and if you have studied or read it at all, Revelation is ALL ABOUT JUDGEMENT and the WRATH OF GOD.
The DAY OF THE LORD is coming, a term frequently used when referring to the tribulation times. Anywhere the term, DAY OF THE LORD is used, it refers to judgement and wrath of God.
The tribulation period will be ALL about the wrath of God descending on the unbelieving world.
The truth is, though, we as believers are NOT destined for the wrath of God.
Romans 8:1 makes explicitly clear…
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Further…
1 Thessalonians 5:9.
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Paul is writing to ENCOURAGE the believers…
The Day of the Lord referenced in verse 2 refers to the end, the tribulation. It refers to a day of judgement.
TO make clear, you have not missed anything…for they were afraid they had missed something and were being subjected to the wrath of God in the Day of the Lord.
He makes clear to them…YOU ARE NOT DESTINED TO WRATH.
Romans 5:9 Paul says
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Yes, this is in the context of salvation and certainly we will be saved from the wrath of God in our salvation
BUT, why would God save us from his wrath in the moment of salvation just to condemn us to face it in the tribulation?
We are NOT destined for his wrath…
And his promise to Philadelphia, as all the promises to all the churches, as all the promises to all those who conquer, is a broad sweeping promise to ALL who keep his word, do not deny his name, and remain faithful.
The hour of testing is said to come upon “those who dwell on the earth.”
Throughout the book of Revelation, this refers to unbelievers.
Revelation 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 14:6, 17:2, 8)
Thus, the focus of those who will face the hour of trial is limited in it’s scope.
Some will repent and be saved - Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-10, 14; 14:4; 17:14).
Others will refuse to repent and be damned - Revelation 6:15-17; 9:20; 16:11; 19:17-18.
But it is not for us to face. The few God will leave, the 144,000, will be witnesses whose mission and task is the call the world, but most specifically, Israel, back to Himself. At the beginning of the tribulation, these will be the only believers, the only followers who remain. But theirs is a special task.
The Concern
The Concern
None.
Like Smyrna, Philadelphia recieved no rebuke. These two churches alone would receive no rebuke.
Though Philadelphia receives the designation of “The Faithful Church,” Smyrna also deserves such a designation. Smyrna was also faithful, to the point of persecution and death.
Both were faithful, and thus recieved no rebuke from the Lord.
Oh that we would be like Smyrna and Philadelphia as a church.
The Command
The Command
I am Coming Soon
I am Coming Soon
Revelation 3:11.
11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
This is much different statement than that which Christ has made to the other churches
For them, he was coming in temporal judgement over their sin, to rebuke and correct, to draw them back to righteousness.
Here, it is a promise of hope and encouragement.
His coming will BRING the hour of testing upon the earth. His coming wilL BEGIN the tribulation and the judgement that is about to fall.
His coming will DELIVER the church BEFORE that begins.
SOON
He is coming SOON.
His return is imminent. It can happen at any time.
To which, all God’s people say…AMEN, COME LORD JESUS, COME!
Hold Fast
Hold Fast
Means to accomplish something by overcoming obstacles, attain.
To use one’s hands to establish a close contact - hold
To take control of someone or something - seize, control
To hold up or serve as a foundation for something - hold upright or support
To control in such a way that something does not happen - hold back, restrain
To adhere to strongly
To cause something to continue - hold in place
POINT IS…this word has the idea of HOLDING SOMETHING CLOSE, maintaining CONTROL, adhering too STRONGLY, to HOLD IN PLACE something that was, that is.
CLING TO and HOLD TO me. To truth. Do not depart from it. Do not stray. Do not compromise. Do not waiver. Do not do as many of the other churches did, and permit sin and false teaching to infiltrate their ranks.
In order words, persevere to the end and so prove to by my disciples.
Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:13.
22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Christ tells them, HOLD FAST. Remain. Endure.
What is so incredible is that God also gives us the faith to hold fast.
True believers ARE eternally secure by the power of God.
The evidence of that security, the evidence of God’s power at work in us, the proof that it is a genuine act of repentance and not a momentary mirage of one IS persevering faith.
Colossians 1:22-23.
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
And again 1 John 2:19.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
God in His grace gifts us that faith to not only believe, but to persevere.
Romans 12:3.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
God truly is incredible. He gives us everything we need to be saved, including our faith to repent AND our faith to endure.
The encouraging thing when Philadelphia is told to HOLD FAST, when we are told to HOLD FAST, God empowers and enables us to do so. We do not have to conjure up strength on our own to do it. He gives us all we need.
So that no one may seize your crown
So that no one may seize your crown
11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
In his letter to Smyrna, the persecuted church, he told them to be faithful unto death and he would give them the crown of life.
This is the same crown he was referring to then.
Hold fast so that no one may seize your crown (of life)
Literally translated, Revelation 2;10 reads, “so that no one may seize your crown, which is life.
Life, eternal life.
Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of eternal life.
Hold fast to what you have so that no one can seize your crown (of eternal life).
This is not insinuating that one can “earn” or “lose” their eternal life, aka their salvation, once it has been given. Other passages of scripture make clear, you cannot.
What it is saying is this…
Enduring faith and obedience, especially under duress and trial, IS THE EVIDENCE of saving faith and one never need fear losing that or being found without it.
One who comes along and seizes another’s crowns, causing them to fall away and “lose their salvation” only reveals that the person never possessed it in the first place.
BUT, too many are convinced of their own salvation because they grew up in church, they go to church now, they read their bibles, the prayed a prayer sometime in the life and have the notation in their bible to prove it. They are relying upon externals to give them assurance all the while their passions and heart are SO FAR from God that there is no evidence, no true evidence of faith in their life. In short, they are the modern day pharisees.
Christ’s letter to the church, to us is reminding us, is showing us…if we endure, if we hold fast, if we cling to what we have, without wavering even in the face of persecution and death, we affirm that our faith is genuine, and we will have no fear of “losing” our crown
I put “losing” in quotations because you cannot lose something you never possessed, which would be the case for one who did “lose” it.
But because of one perception that they actually did have it, it will feel like losing it if it is “stripped” away or withheld from them.
The Counsel
The Counsel
Revelation 3:12-13.
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.’
Again, read, meditate, and we will return here later with the rest.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Application
Application
