863 Rev.3.7-13 Philadelphia - Pillars in the Temple of God
The 7 Churches of Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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- I remember Jim telling me once about unlocking a vehicle by using the remote unlock button on the car key from home by sending the signal through a mobile phone to the person uptown with their car & mobile phone in hand
- The unlock code passed through the mobile phones & unlocked the car even though the unlock button was pressed kilometres away
- Keys allow us to open doors, gates, postboxes, filing cabinets & padlocks- Without the key, you cannot open that which is securely sealed
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- This opening statement of Jesus demonstrates to us that He is co-equal with the Father
- He is the One who is holy & who is true – these are descriptions of God from the OT & it is made even clearer here in Revelation as we see the martyrs of Jesus in the throneroom of God crying out to Him...
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Being God, Jesus has the power to admit, or to exclude from the kingdom of God
- But more than this, Jesus is the One who died for sin & was raised to life again & for that reason, He has opened up the kingdom – paradise to those whom He has granted access
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- One characteristic of the Philadelphians is that they have not denied His name
- There are only 2 churches that don’t receive any censure from Jesus & it is Smyrna & this church, Philadelphia
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- Philadelphia the city sits on a fault line & in AD 17 they had a massive earthquake that made the Coronavirus look like a Sunday School picnic
- Many people died but being on the fault line, their buildings experienced constant cracking because of all the tremors
- Days on end, they could experience tremors
- The devastation of AD 17 was so bad that the Roman gov. exempted Philadelphia from 5 years worth of taxes
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- Many of the people did not want to live in the city because it was so insecure & precarious, so they lived in the countryside
- Their main source of income was in vineyards, but because of Emperor Domitian's edict in 95 AD that they had to use half their land to grow corn - but the land was not suited to growing corn - they struggled financially
- Most people think that this was because Caesar was wanting to keep his huge army supplied with corn to eat- But it put a terrible financial burden upon the farmers of Philadelphia
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- Two things to note from this…
1. They were not wealthy
- It you weren’t a people of means, then you had little power or political sway with the authorities
2. Philadelphia & it’s buildings were insecure & unstable
- People wanted to be in a city as it provided more safety against bandits & outlaws & the like, convenience to shops, but the earthquakes, even constant tremors, would hit so regularly that it was probably safer to live outside the city
- No wonder Jesus says to them that they have little power
- No wonder He says to them that if they continue to conquer, that He will make them a strong, firm & like a secure pillar in the “temple” of God, the New Jerusalem
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- In spite of all their struggles with the political & natural turmoil, they have not denied the name of Christ nor have they turned away from His word
- Furthermore, they had an enemy in the Jewish synagogue which added to the insecurities that already existed
1. Jesus Possess’ the Keys to the Kingdom
1. Jesus Possess’ the Keys to the Kingdom
- In the OT, the Jews had the status of being God’s people by virtue of ethnicity
- It was to them that God sent a Saviour in the person of Jesus
- But God went beyond His appeal to ethnic Israel- In Habakkuk, He said that His people (those who are right with God) would live by faith
4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
- It is a privilege for the Lord to call a nation to Himself, but that nation is not called because they possess something innately special in their ethnicity
- They were called for a purpose – to be a light & beckon to the world & to proclaim the Lord’s name to all the earth- But they became proud & exclusive & were jealous of other nations coming to know the Lord as their own
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- Gentiles were thought to be fuel for the flames of Gehenna (of Hell)
- They could be saved, but only by becoming Jewish
- Going through the process of circumcision & by being bound to the Law, a Gentile could be classed as a proselyte or God-fearer
- They had to be “in Israel” before they could share in the promises of God
- But Jesus never took this approach – the Messiah had come
- He called them to Himself & was thus calling them to God since Jesus Himself is God in the flesh
- The Messiah having come, His salvation was found, not “in Israel” but “in Christ”
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- In attending the Synagogue, the church of Christ would find a level of protection against the demand for the worship of the Emperor & the Roman gods
- They could enjoy toleration as a legal religion
- However, the Jews were beginning to kick back against the name of Christ & were not only excommunicating Christians from the Synagogue, but were dobbing them in to the Roman authorities & arguing that Christians are not a sect of Judaism, but some other religion altogether
- This exposed Christians to persecution from the ruling authorities because to be true to Christ, you cannot worship the Emperor as a son of the gods nor be involved in idolatry
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- These were, of course, the Emperor’s delusions of grandeur
- But in spite of the financial hardships Christians had to endure by being kicked out of the Synagogue & in spite of risk of persecution, they did not deny the name of Christ
- This is what Jesus praises them for, here in this letter
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- In the mind of the Jew, they had the “keys” so to speak to open up access to God & by excommunicating the Philadelphian Christians, they were closing off access for them to the kingdom
- So we find this encouraging word from Jesus
1. He & He alone has the keys to the kingdom – what He opens no one can shut & what He shuts, no one can open
22 “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open. 23 “I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.
- The Jews are saying that if the Christians desist from following this Jesus, they may allow them back into the kingdom - they have the key of David & can allow them back in
- Jesus says that He knows His people’s deeds & they prove they are truly His. They may have been excommunicated from the people of Israel, but He has the keys to the kingdom & the door is an open one before them
2. He calls those Jews a synagogue of Satan & that like Satan, they lie
- They are not true Jews – they may be ethnically Jewish but do not belong to God
- Like Paul who says in...
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
3. God had said that the nations would bow before His people
- Israel was to believe & trust in God & they would, under their Messiah, rule the world - But they rejected the Messiah Jesus as a phoney, a heretic
- It is these who will bow down before the Philadelphian Christians & they will be made to confess that Jesus loves them
- What is emphasised here is that Jesus, not the Jews (not ethnic Israel) has the keys & He alone opens the door to God’s presence
2. Protection From the “Trial” to Come
2. Protection From the “Trial” to Come
- This section is of interest to most Christians because they want to know whether this is talking about the “great tribulation” that is to come
- The short answer is that we can’t be certain whether it was an historical trial upon the whole earth, or the final great trial upon the whole earth
Q. Periods of tribulation do come & go, but is this the one that precedes the coming of Jesus?
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- It seems to me that this is a reference to the great tribulation
- The GT will we know, from the Gospels, come upon the whole earth
- We also know that the coming of Christ is what ends it – as Paul says in the Thessalonian letter – when He comes to destroy the man of lawlessness or Antichrist
8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
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- Jesus says here that due to their perseverance in keeping His word, He will keep this church from the coming tribulation
- Now we know that the GT has not yet come, but these Philadelphians has all since passed away
- But remember, that this word applies to every church in every age - there is a universal appeal to stay true to Jesus
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Q. In what way, though, will He keep the church from this terrible time?
- There are two kinds of frightful suffering in the end preceding it & at Christ’s return
1. The wrath of Satan
2. The wrath of God
- I suggest that Jesus will keep the church from His wrath, but not the wrath of Satan
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- Satan has always been persecuting Christians since the beginning of the church
- This is certainly a trial for believers as they have had to decide whose side they will be on
- If they side with the world – Satan’s domain & who has the control – then they will escape his wrath, but they set themselves up to suffer the wrath of the lamb
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- Those who have not denied the name of Jesus & suffered under the wrath of Satan, will be gloriously saved from the wrath of God which is coming upon the whole world
- Revelation depicts this well
- The Christians we have been reading about in these 7 letters have been undergoing suffering – even martyrdom
- The spirit of Satan behind the world order that hates Christ is seen here in...
7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
- This is the wrath of the evil one & Christians are not immune from this
- However, Jesus is saying here in our passage today that the church is safe from the wrath of God or the wrath of the Lamb that is coming upon the world
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
- The early Christians understood this, as it was displayed, in the demands of Emperor worship where they had to gain certification that they had bowed to the emperor as a son of God & proclaimed “Caesar is Lord”
- That was the local manifestation of what seems to have a parallel to this awful time yet to come
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- You can only be in one camp
- The deal is this: The church keeps the word of Christ (takes it to heart & does it), therefore, He will keep the church from the wrath of God coming upon the disobedient – those who deny Christ & do not hold to His word
3. Security Given to the Conqueror
3. Security Given to the Conqueror
- I can imagine many of us thinking – “why does living as a Christian have to be so darn dangerous”?
- Simply put, its the nature of evil that is in the world
- The world is not going God’s way & so if you chose Him over the world, don’t be surprised when they turn away from you, as they have turned away from Christ
- Don’t be surprised when they persecute you as they persecuted Christ
- Jesus is not wishing this upon you but if you are on His side, then this will be the consequence of your decision
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- But spare a thought for the near-sighted people of the world who want to live comfortably now with the “beast” – that manifestation of Satan’s tyranny over the world
- They are near-sighted because they cannot see what will come upon them
- They have chosen poorly for their choice ruins them forever & ever
- Whereas your choice to honour Christ now, has secured you for all eternity
- You are the ones with true wisdom & insight who can see that this life is short & only what Jesus has accomplished for us, can last
2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
- You are these people who have chosen Christ over the world
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- So we come to these latter verses here in today’s passage
- The Philadelphians lack security – financially & geographically, they are insecure
- Banned from the protection of the Synagogue, living in & around a city which shakes so regularly that you never know when & what is going to fall on you - Jesus promises them this awesome security...
1. They will be a pillar in the temple of My God
- Solid & immovable – they will not fear collapse
- Nor would they have to flee the city that often shakes & they have to run for their lives when it does – imagine at night & you’re asleep when it happens!
- But also, the overcomer will have a permanent home
- The pillar is a permanent fixture in the Temple
- This metaphor also allows us to see that this will be a permanent home in the presence of God
- Salvation becomes an absolute reality for the overcomer – overcomer or conqueror – remember, is the one who does not deny the name of Christ & who does hold to His word
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- The 2nd promise to the one who overcomes his or her fears is that...
2. They will assume the glorious name of God
- Your last name should remind you of the family to whom you belong- Having the name of God written upon you lets you know that you belong to an everlasting family – the family of God
1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
- For those who are stuck on the 144,000 - it is a metaphor representing all the faithful from the Old & New Testaments - 12 tribes rep. x 12 apostles rep. x 1000 meaning fullness = 144,000
- These are secure in the presence of God, have a permanent home with God & belong forever to the family of God
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- As we reflect on these verses today, we also reflect on the work of mission to make Christ known to the world- God wants His family increased – He is looking for more people to be born again into His family
- We all have that as our mission – to make Christ & His saving grace known to the world
- As we have learnt from this passage today, Jesus & Jesus alone has the keys to God’s kingdom & His presence