Revelation 3:7-13 Jesus wants you apart of His family even if no one else does

Read 3:7

Holy: set apart, other

How?

He holds the key of David

key of David: the authority of the promised kingdom (starting to get Jewish, why?)

Preach as a narrative; Philadelphia has a large enough Jewish population to have a synagogue (at least 10 males)

Christians were still a Jewish sect. Many of them were going to Synagogue and they started getting kicked out for claiming Christ was Messiah.

You’re living in Philadelphia. You can’t be in community with the pagans because they make you sacrifice to idols and the Jews have kicked you out of the Synagogue. Now you have this tiny church. Community is survival in the ancient world. You’ve been kicked out of the kingdom.

This whole letter is about who decides who’s in the kingdom and it starts with the key of David. The key:

Isaiah 22:20–24 NIV

“In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

The key is the authority and honor of the house. The one who holds the key decides who enters.

What he opens: could mean gospel opportunities. Paul and Luke talk about God opening doors for the gospel.

It could also mean the door into the kingdom <- I think this one. Again according to the Jews the kingdom has been closed to these people because they claim Christ is Messiah. Christ responds, no no no… Only I have the authority to open and close the door.

I make the guest list, they don’t.

Read 3:8

Deeds: again focusing on what they are doing in light of the gospel

little strength: little church - but it doesn’t matter because Christ has authority

Read 3:9

They are not Jews because of their lineage. The true children of Abraham are not by flesh and blood but by faith. It’s not those with the DNA of Abraham that are Jews but those with the Faith of Abraham.

Abraham is not their ancestor and God is not their father.

They have removed you, but one day they will acknowledge that God has loved you.

To a church that has been completely discounted by the religious elite. They’ve been kicked out of “church” because they believe the gospel. They aren’t following the rules.

Read 3:10

They are doing it, they are keeping His command - to what - endure suffering patiently and not forsake who Christ is

Hour of trial; maybe the end times maybe not; upon the whole world usually means “your world”

Read 3:11

What you have: the faith

crown: revelation 2:10 = life, eternal. (I don’t think it’s glory or a reward, I’m in the minority)

I do believe the crown is eternal life through faith. That faith can be taken away by suffering if you forsake the truth about Christ. If you become apostate.

Answer your question before you ask it: does that mean I can lose my faith? If it’s dead then yes, if it’s alive then no. Your faith will not fail in times of persecution if it is true because what makes it strong is not you, but Christ.

The persecution is a furnace that tests faith, hold tight to it so that it doesn’t burn away. The enemy is a thief that tests faith, hold tight to it so that it doesn’t get taken away.

Read 3:12-13

Victorious: in what? Holding to the name of Christ in the midst of the religious elite.

I will make you a pillar in the temple of God; they had been told, “you can no longer enter the temple” Jesus says, “I will make you the temple.” What is the temple? It is the place that God dwells.

- Never again will they leave it - Right now they feel like a community with no home, they’ve been exiled. But Christ assures them, He has a place for them, and in them He’s building a place for Himself.

You have been banned from Jerusalem, but I am bringing to you a new Jerusalem.

Conclusion

This whole operation is Christ’s. This isn’t the Hogan show or the Sam/Norman show. We don’t decide who’s in and who’s out. Christ alone makes that call. This whole letter is about being an outcast because of the Gospel.

How many of you have felt like outcasts? Maybe not for the gospel, but you know the feeling. People stare at you when you come in the room. You’re always the butt of the joke. You’re unwelcome.

Here’s what Jesus says to you. If you hold tight to who I am, your God, you will never be unwelcome in my kingdom. You will never be kicked out of my house. You will never be exiled from this family. And those who spit on you because of it, will one day see how much you are loved.

Jesus wants you apart of His family even if no one else does.