KBM Revelation Chapter 3 Philadelphia

Hello there and welcome to our 187th episode of Kids Bible Minute. I’m your host Landon Rowell and I’m also the local preacher for the church of Christ in Ramona, OK. I’m so thankful you have decided to study God’s precious Word with me this day and I hope you have your Bible with you while we have our Bible study. Also, because I don’t want you simply taking my word for what we will be studying I would like for you to open your Bible up to each verse I mention and read that verse for yourself so you can see God’s Word personally. Most of the time I will read the verses too so you can read along with me when I do. So when I mention a verse just pause this podcast, open your Bible to that passage, read that verse and then unpause the podcast and read along with me as I read the verse out loud. If you are new to our study, first I want to say thank you for studying with us and secondly I want to let you know that you can reach all archived or past episodes easily at ramonacofc.com in the podcast section where there is a direct link to Kids Bible Minute past episodes. I want to being by saying thank you to those who were praying for me while I was sick, as I am fortunate to have so many doing so. I’m not quite fully well but feeling much better so thank you again for the prayers. Now, as most of you know, and for those that are new to our studies, we have been studying the book of Revelation. Specifically we have been looking “lately” at the seven churches of Asia in chapters 2 & 3 and we find ourselves in looking at the church in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, which dates back to 159 B.C., was a missionary hub for the Greeks to spread the Greek language and loyalty to Hellenism. This missionary mindset extended to their devotion to paganism and thus Philadelphia was called “Little Athens” due to the number of temples to gods found there. We also know of the people’s perseverance because in 17 A.D. we know a massive earthquake almost completely destroyed the city and for over three years there were aftershocks still plaguing it, and yet people were still living in the city, amazing. Knowing this gives us insight into the church there in Philadelphia. Jesus begins by describing Himself in four ways. Let’s read .

Revelation 3:7 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.

Jesus is the “Holy One” in other words one who is innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and higher than the angels (). Jesus is also the “True One.” Jesus is the epitome of truth as one who never lied nor was dishonest in anything. In fact, Jesus is “The Truth” (). Jesus is also the one that “has the key of David” which is from . This is simply pointing out that Jesus is the Messiah that was prophesied to come. As one man wrote, “Jesus has the throne of David, the tabernacle of David, the sure mercies of David, and the key of David in every spiritual sense of the terms.” Jesus lastly mentions He is the one who opens and shuts. As we have seen in with the other congregations Jesus opens opportunity for righteousness sake but for those that refuse to seek righteousness and rather love to stay in sin he will shut them out and remove their name of righteousness from them. We then see that Philadelphia, unlike most of the other congregations, was staying completely faithful.

Revelation 3:8 ESV

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.

Rev 3.

Those of the synagogue of Satan, for more on that go back and study our lesson on Smyrna from Revelation Chapter , were causing trouble for the church and even though the church wasn’t what appears to be a “big congregation” i.e. not powerful Jesus told them “the door is open and can’t be shut.” Remember Philadelphia was a place many people came and went through and thus opportunities to teach God’s Word and have it spread, like with the Ethiopian eunuch, was great. This small church could spiritually thrive because of their faithfulness and in the end they would be conquers who could “sit with Christ on His throne.” As a member of a small congregation there is no greater encouragement and strength gained than hearing Christ’s words to this small congregation in this large city of Philadelphia.

Well, that concludes this Bible study for today. As always, I want to thank you for studying God's precious Word with me and I want to encourage you to continue to study God's Word every day. Be sure to use the wonderful material and other podcasts made available through the BWM App or website at biblewaymedia.org. I also personally have a website at gospel-preacher.com. Of course, make sure you ask your parents if it is ok by them before you download the app or go to those websites. I also encourage you to contact me personally with question about the Bible at the Ramona church of Christ email address [e-mail] or through our Facebook Page. Make sure you message the Ramona church of Christ in OK not California. Until we have an opportunity to meet again, peace be with you in Christ Jesus our Lord.