All right. Friends, today we continue our sermon series on the letters that we find written in the
book of Revelation. And thus far in this series, we have encountered several letters dictated by
Jesus to different churches, and most of these churches have been rebuked by Jesus. Most of
these churches have struggled with sins like sexual immorality, moral complacency, lukewarm
faith, false teaching, idolatry, and so on. And all of these sins have spoken warnings and rebukes to us
and to our church here and now. But with the letter we are reading today, we have a different church.
We have a church that Jesus does not rebuke. This church, it turns out, labored under oppression
and under slander and gossip and rejection and weakness and loss of worldly identity and loss
of family connections. Yet in all this, they remained faithful to Christ. What does Jesus
have to say to this kind of church and this kind of Christian? As we will see, friends,
he speaks much words of assurance and comfort, and he encourages them to embrace their identity
in Christ and not their identity in this world. And he offers them many promises. Throughout the
sermon series, we have read the letters in Revelation as if they were written to us. So this morning,
let us hear the words in this letter as if Jesus spoke them to us. And what Jesus' letter says to you
is to not be conformed to this world, but to embrace your identity in Christ, your citizenship
in heaven, your membership in the body of Christ. And this is especially true for those of you who've
been rejected by others because you follow Jesus. The letter to the church that we're going to read can
be found in the book of Revelation. It's to the church in ancient Philadelphia. It's on page 966 in
your pew Bible. This is Revelation chapter 3, verses 7 through 13. And that's again page 966.
And this letter reads like this.
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, and who shuts and no one opens.
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.
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.
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 am coming soon.
Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
Friends, let's pray together.
Let's pray together.
Oh, Father, we submit ourselves to your word.
We pray that we would be like this ancient church in Philadelphia,
that we would stand fast in times of trial.
Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand your word,
your figures of speech, which sometimes are hard to understand.
I pray that you would open our hearts to listen,
that you would give us ears to what the Spirit says to the churches.
Father, we submit to you in your will, and we pray all this in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen.
The structure of the sermon this morning will go like this.
First, we're going to look at how Jesus introduces himself in this letter to the Philadelphians.
And then secondly, we'll examine a little bit about what kind of things the church in Philadelphia was suffering.
And then most of our time will be spent meditating upon the promises and exhortations that Jesus gives to the church in ancient Philadelphia.
And therefore, what promises and what exhortations that he gives to you regarding your identity in Christ?
We begin in verse 7.
There Jesus says,
There Jesus says to the angel of the church in Philadelphia,
Right, 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 starts by declaring certain things about himself.
He says that he is the holy one.
He's the true one.
He's sanctified.
He's set apart.
From Jesus, we derive our holiness.
From him, we derive the truth.
There is no lie found in Jesus.
And this true one, this true one, this Jesus, he is the one writing to the church in Philadelphia.
Now, all that is clear to most people in this verse, but the other things Jesus says about himself are a bit more confusing.
What I wonder is the key of David that Jesus says he possesses.
And what does opening and shutting have to do with Jesus and the Christian life?
Revelation in this passage borrows from Isaiah the prophet, chapter 22, verse 22, where God says,
And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David.
He shall open and no one shall shut.
He shall shut and no one shall open.
The context of this passage in Isaiah shows that several hundred years before Revelation was written,
God spoke through Isaiah about a new steward who would be appointed over the house of David in Isaiah's time
and who would be given David's key so that he might manage all the affairs of the kingdom
and have authority to permit and to prevent, to allow and to forbid all manner of activities and all manner of people.
In the scriptures, the kingdom of David, of course, is the very kingdom of the Messiah.
It's the kingdom that the Messiah would inherit and rule forever.
It was that kingdom which the Messiah would elevate from just an earthly kingdom into a heavenly one.
And if we put all these things together, we see that the key of David in Revelation symbolizes the power to manage the affairs of the Davidic kingdom.
The Messiah's heavenly kingdom.
And Revelation says that it is Jesus who possesses it.
He is the one who has the authority to open and close privileges in this kingdom to others.
So in the first verse, Jesus declares that he is holy.
He is true.
He is the steward over the messianic kingdom.
And whomever he chooses, the privileges of this kingdom will be granted.
Now, as we know what Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia,
he in many ways says to us here at Trinity.
What he says to the church in Philadelphia, he says to you specifically.
So do not be mistaken then.
When Jesus says that he has the key of David,
and when he says that what he shuts no one may open,
and what he opens no one may shut,
do not be mistaken.
For when he says these things, he's speaking not just to the ancient church, but to you.
And there is one privilege in particular that Jesus has opened for you, O Christian.
In the next verse, in verse 8, Jesus says this,
I know your works.
Behold, I have set before you an open door,
which no one is able to shut.
This verse tells us that Jesus knows your works.
He knows your deeds.
And behold, he uses his authority over the messianic heavenly kingdom
to set before you an open door,
which no one is able to shut.
This door is nothing less than the entryway into this heavenly and eternal kingdom.
Now, the translation we use here at Trinity
says that Jesus sets before you an open door.
But a translation that is perhaps a bit more faithful to the Greek,
instead of reading an open door,
it would read an opened door.
That is a door that has been opened.
A door that had once been shut,
but now is open.
You see, in this verse,
Jesus communicates that that entry
into the kingdom of God is impossible for us.
That door was shut.
We could not open it.
But thanks be to God, we have a Savior,
Christ the Lord, who's gone into the heavens
and opened this door for you,
his beloved.
And no one can shut it.
And so Jesus says,
I've set before you an opened door,
which no one is able to shut.
Christians, this is a profound gospel truth.
Those whom Christ has appointed to live in his heavenly kingdom
cannot be cast out.
The door has been opened.
No one can shut it.
Jesus proclaims this specifically in the Gospel of John.
He says,
I give them eternal life and they will never perish,
and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
So do not fear, Christian,
when you are rejected in this world for Christ.
The devil cannot touch you when you are with Jesus.
Your enemies cannot harm you.
Death and sin cannot reach you.
They may roar.
They may gnash their teeth.
They may bear their claws.
But you are safe with Jesus.
The door to eternal life has been opened by Christ,
and no one is able to shut it.
And be especially assured of this truth.
If you are weak today,
or if you are lonely in this moment,
if you are slandered at this time,
or gossiped about because you follow Christ,
if you have in any way lost your worldly identity,
if you are struggling with who you are,
if you are oppressed because of your love for Jesus,
then as you will see,
Jesus has you specifically in mind in this letter we are reading.
Because if you are struggling with these things,
if you're weak or slandered or rejected by others,
if you have lost your identity on this earth because of Jesus,
then you are much like the church in Philadelphia,
because they too were suffering the same things.
And Jesus goes on to comfort them and exhort them.
So let us now turn to look a little bit
at the kinds of things that the church in Philadelphia was suffering.
We can glean these things by jumping around a little bit
in verses 8, 9, and 10.
We start in verse 8.
Jesus says,
I know that you have but little power,
and yet you've kept my word and have not denied my name.
In verse 8,
Jesus says that he knows that the Christians of Philadelphia have little power.
Therefore, it seems that the Christians in Philadelphia
were weak by worldly standards.
And verse 8 also goes on to say that even though they were weak,
the Christians kept his word and did not deny his name.
This implies to us that not only were the Philadelphian Christians weak,
they also faced opposition.
Yet in this they remained faithful,
and they did not deny the name of Jesus.
And jumping to verse 10,
Jesus says something similar.
He says,
You have kept my word of patient endurance.
So not only are the Christians in Philadelphia weak,
not only have they faced oppression,
this oppression seems to have gone on for some time
because Jesus says they were patiently enduring.
We do not know the specifics of what the church in Philadelphia was suffering,
but we get a hint of it in verse 9.
There Jesus says,
He speaks of a synagogue of Satan
who say that they are Jews but are not,
and lie.
This kind of oppression
that the church in Philadelphia was experiencing
seems to have at least in part involved
being slandered by contemporary Jews who lived in their city.
We saw this a few weeks ago
in Jesus' letter to the church in Smyrna.
To reconstruct what was going on,
we have to read between the lines a little bit here
and also draw from the historical context.
But the best historical estimate
is that in Philadelphia,
there was a community of Jewish Christians,
and they seem to have worshipped in the local synagogue.
As mentioned in the sermon a few weeks ago,
it was common for Christians in the early church
to do this, to worship in the synagogues.
We see Christians, even the apostles,
doing this in the book of Acts.
But evidently, the Jews in the synagogue of Philadelphia
were criticizing Jewish Christians
and saying that they could only be Jewish
if they did not confess Jesus as the Messiah.
Christians in Philadelphia
were therefore suffering under slander,
and they had probably been excommunicated
from the synagogue.
They were likely cut off from friends and family.
This would have meant that they would have lost
their ethnic, their religious, their cultural,
even their national identity.
And if we put all these things together,
we learn a little bit,
about what the church in Philadelphia was suffering.
They were weak.
They were oppressed.
They were slandered.
They were vulnerable.
They were lonely.
They were rudderless in a sea
without a worldly home or worldly identity.
But despite all of this,
they kept the word of Jesus,
and they did not deny his name,
and they patiently persevered.
So I ask you, friend,
are you suffering these things?
Are you weak?
Are you downtrodden?
Are you meek or weak or hurting
or buffeted back and forth?
Are you slandered or oppressed
or weary or lonely?
Have you been cut off from friends or family?
Are there those in your workplace
or in your school
who gossip about you behind your back
because you follow Jesus?
Have you lost your identity in this world?
And in all these things,
are you keeping Jesus' word?
Are you refusing to deny his name?
The church in Philadelphia suffered like you.
They had no strength.
They were oppressed,
it seems, by both Jews and Gentiles.
They were slandered.
In all probability,
they were rejected by friends and family.
Yet unlike some of the churches in Revelation,
most of the churches in Revelation,
they kept Jesus' word
and they patiently persevered.
Friends, it is no wonder
that Jesus goes on in his letter
to assure these Christians of their salvation
and to comfort them
and to promise them many things
regarding that heavenly kingdom
Jesus is preparing for them
and for you
and also to assure them
about their new identity
he is giving to them
and to you as a Christian.
So let's turn to these promises now.
And before I start,
I must say that these promises
can be a little difficult to interpret,
so we'll go through them one by one.
First, in verse 9
of his letter to the Philadelphians,
Jesus refers to those
who slandered and opposed
the Christians of Philadelphia.
He says,
Behold,
I will make them come
and bow down before your feet
and they will learn
that I have loved you.
What could this mean?
It might sound
as if these persecutors
will be forced to worship Christians.
It might sound that way in English,
but in the original Greek,
I think it's a bit more clear.
These enemies are not
worshiping Christians.
Instead,
they are worshiping God
in front of the Christians
that they persecuted.
This touches upon Judgment Day
when every tongue will confess
and every knee will bow,
when the nations
will be gathered before Jesus,
when all people will come
and they'll come from the east
and from the west
and from the north
and from the south
and they'll cast their crowns
before him.
And we will all be together
on that day,
every one of us.
And Scripture says
that not only will every Christian
be there,
but every non-Christian,
and not just every human being,
but every being
on heaven and on earth
and under the earth.
All creation,
all the angels will be there,
the demons will be there too,
and we will all fall
before the throne of Jesus.
And Jesus gives
specific comfort
to those of you
who have suffered under lies
or been slandered
or rejected
for the sake of Christ.
Jesus says
that whoever has lied
about you,
whoever has done so
on account of me,
whoever has slandered you,
whoever has rejected you
because of me,
on that day
they will be made to learn
that I have loved you.
Friends,
make no mistake,
we are called
to love our enemies.
Scripture commands us
to pray
for those who persecute you.
Bless those who curse you.
Turn and offer your left cheek
when struck on the right.
Do good
to those who do evil.
Forgive
those who have wronged you
because vengeance is mine,
says the Lord.
I will repay.
Scripture is also clear
that the love of God
has been poured out
in your heart,
not because of anything worthy
that you have done,
not because of your works,
not because you've earned it
as a wage
that is due to you,
but only
and simply
because God
in His glory
set His love upon you
and rescued you
from the domain of darkness.
On account of this,
you should not take passages
as the one we have before us
to lord it over those
who made you suffer.
Instead,
take these passages
to walk with humility.
Take them as a comfort
that when you suffer for Christ,
when you are rejected by others,
God will vindicate you.
You don't need to worry
about vengeance.
You don't need to justify yourself
before those who gossip
or slander about you.
You don't need to be anxious
over whether you'll be found innocent.
And do not believe
any of those things they say.
Christ is for you.
Who can be against you?
For Jesus has promised
that all those
who have rejected
or mocked you
will be made to know
on that day
that God has loved you
when He comes
to judge the earth.
Well, friends,
let us move on
to a second promise
I want to highlight.
This is in verse 10
where Jesus says,
because you have kept
the word of my 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.
This verse has occasioned
much controversy
in theological circles.
Many faithful Christians
have taken this verse
to mean that Jesus
will spare Christians
from the trials
mentioned in the book
of Revelation
because this verse
promises to rescue Christians
from the great trial
that is coming
on the whole earth.
Other faithful Christians
disagree and point out
that Revelation
does seem to include
Christians as suffering
the trials that are to come.
For instance,
in Revelation 6.11
seems to reference
Christians being killed
and you can see
similar things
in chapter 7.14
or 12.11, 12.17
and verses like that.
Now, in this
alternative perspective,
what Jesus promises
to spare the Philadelphians
from is either
the terrible woe
in Revelation 9
where only those
who are sealed
with God's name
are spared.
Or perhaps
what he's talking about
is the great trial
of the lake of fire
that is prepared
for all those
who reject Christ.
We may touch
on these things
in a later sermon
but whatever the case,
remember friends
that we must read
Revelation with humility.
There are mysteries
in it that will not
be made clear
until they are fulfilled.
Remember also
that the finer points
about the end times,
these friends
are secondary
or even tertiary issues
and we don't want
to be divisive about them
or focus on them
over much.
So regardless
of your view
on the end times,
what we know
is this.
In this present life,
Christ calls us
to bear our crosses
and he tells us
that suffering
will come to us
whether or not
it comes in the end times
or not.
And we also know
that Christ promises
to welcome us
into his kingdom
and to make all know
that he has loved you.
So take heart, friends.
Jesus promises
to spare you
from the coming trial,
whatever that may be.
Friends,
I could go on
about this passage
for some time
but let's hasten on
because Jesus
has more promises
for those of you
who are faithful
to Christ
when suffering
rejection by others.
Verse 12 reads this.
Jesus says,
To the one who conquers,
I will make him
a pillar in the temple
of my God.
Never shall he go out of it.
The phrase,
To the one who conquers,
this refers to those
who continue to persevere
in the faith.
To these,
God will make a pillar
in the temple of God,
the temple that's located
in the coming
heavenly kingdom.
Never will they
leave his presence.
With this,
Jesus, of course,
doesn't mean that
he's actually going
to turn you
into a pillar of stone.
Instead,
he's speaking figuratively
or symbolically here.
And to understand
this promise,
we must know
that a pillar in Scripture
signifies permanence,
steadfastness,
immovability,
constancy.
So by using
symbolic language,
Jesus communicates
that you
who have persevered
in the faith
in times of trial
or in being rejected
or in losing
your worldly identity
or your community.
To you,
Jesus says,
you will be spared
not only the coming trial,
but you will also be
in God's presence
forever in his temple.
You will no longer
be rejected.
You will be with him
and more than that,
you will be a necessary,
a crucial aspect
of the functioning
of the temple of God.
Just as a pillar
crucially upholds
a building,
so you will not
be worthless.
You will be an integral part
of the kingdom of God.
Whatever your worth is now,
you will not be worthless then.
Christ will make you fit
for valued service
in his kingdom
just as a pillar
upholds a temple.
And not only that,
Jesus goes on to say
in that same verse,
and I will write on him
the name of my God.
Again, friends,
this doesn't mean
that we're going
to literally walk around
with the letters of God
scribbled all over our face.
Instead, again,
this is an example
of symbolic language.
Inscribing God's name
on you means
that you are set apart
for God.
You belong to him.
You are part
of his household.
You are cherished by him
and protected by him.
This is similar
to Exodus 28,
verse 36 through 38,
where the phrase
holy to the Lord
is inscribed
on the gold plate
mounted on the high priest's forehead.
To write God's name
on the high priest
was a marker
claiming that the high priest
was set apart
specifically for God.
It indicated
that he belonged to God
and was set apart
for service to God
in a special way.
In the same way, Christian,
you who have been faithful
to Christ
in times of trial,
in times of being rejected
or slandered,
in times of suffering
for Christ,
you belong to God now.
You have been purchased
by him.
You are in his household forever.
You are safe with him,
protected by his shield.
You are under his banner
and you have been purchased
by his blood eternally.
For this reason,
the Apostle Paul says,
you are not your own.
You were bought
with a price.
And to indicate all of this,
Jesus in Revelation
symbolically promises
to write the name of God
upon you.
But Jesus
has more words of promise
for you, Christian,
who are persevering
in trial
and worldly rejection.
He says he will not just
write his name on you.
He says in verse 12,
I will also write
the name of the city
of my God,
the new Jerusalem,
which comes down
from heaven,
from my God.
As we just saw,
being called the name
of someone
meant that you belong
to that person's household.
But here you must know
that in the ancient world,
being called by the name
of a city
meant that you were
a citizen of that city.
So here when Jesus
inscribes the name
of the city of God,
the new Jerusalem,
which comes down
from heaven,
he is proclaiming
in no uncertain terms
that you are a citizen
of that heavenly city
forever.
Your old identity
has passed away.
All these earthly cities,
these earthly countries,
earthly families,
these are as nothing
to that heavenly kingdom
where you,
Jesus says,
have been elected
a citizen by God himself,
a city that will never
pass away
like those on this earth.
Paul the Apostle
writes of this
to the Philippians.
He says in chapter 3
to his epistle,
but our citizenship
is in heaven
and from it
we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform
our lowly body
to be like his glorious body
by the power
that enables him
even to subject
all things to himself.
Christian,
if you are longing
for citizenship
in an earthly country,
or if your identity
has been taken from you,
if you've been abandoned
by family or friends
or your community,
do not be troubled
by these things.
God has reserved for you
a better citizenship
and a better family,
a better community,
one which can never
be taken away,
which will not be overthrown.
He has gotten for you
an irrevocable citizenship
in heaven
and a permanent,
heavenly identity.
And brothers and sisters,
all of us here at Trinity,
we are just
a small,
humble foretaste
as sampling a token
of that spiritual family
that you've been given
eternally and forever.
But Jesus
is not done yet.
He says he will not only
make you a pillar
in this temple,
he will not only inscribe
the name of God on you
in the name of the heavenly city,
he also says
that he will also inscribe
my own new name.
Again, this indicates
that you now belong to Jesus
just as you belong
to God the Father.
But notice here
that Jesus,
he doesn't say
he's just going to write
his name on you.
He says he will write
his new name on you.
What is this new name?
Jesus is called by many names
in the scriptures.
Of course,
he's called Jesus,
which means the Lord saves.
Jesus is also called
the wisdom of God,
the word of God,
the son of God.
He's called Emmanuel,
which means God with us.
But none of these
are new names for Jesus.
They're old names.
So Jesus can't be talking
about those names.
What then is this new name
that Jesus promises
to write on you?
Friends,
this is one of those places
where scholars and theologians
are not so sure.
This name,
our best guess,
is this name probably
refers to the new name
of Jesus mentioned
in Revelation chapter 19
in verse 12.
There in that passage,
the apostle John
is given a vision
of when Jesus returns
in the end of days.
He says,
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.
His eyes are like a flame of fire
and on his head
are many diadems,
and he has a name written
that no one knows
but himself.
He is clothed in a robe
dipped in blood,
and the name of which
he is called
is the Word of God.
And the armies of heaven
arrayed in fine linen,
white and pure,
were following him
on white horses.
Jesus, in this passage,
is called the Word of God.
His robe is dipped
in his own blood
which he shed for you
to redeem you
and to purchase you
and to set you free.
And he rides a white horse
leading the armies of heaven
on that day
when he returns.
But aside from being called
the Word of God,
there's also another name
for Jesus in this passage,
and this name
is written on him,
and no one knows this name
but Jesus himself.
It's plausible,
even likely,
that this is the new name
we read about
in Jesus' letter
to the church
in Philadelphia.
This is the new name
of Jesus
which Jesus will write on you.
It's the name
by which you will be called
on that last day
when Jesus counts you
as his own,
as a member
of his household forever,
as a true child of God
and as a citizen
of his city,
as a brother and sister
a faithful servant
and a friend.
But whereas
when the name of God
the Father
was written on you,
it marked you
as belonging
to the Father's household,
the new name of Jesus
marks you
not just as being
part of that household
but having
the privilege
of the inheritance
as a firstborn son.
for since Jesus
is the only begotten
of the Father,
he inherits a kingdom
and because he has
set his name on you,
you also will inherit
that kingdom
and reign with him.
And more than this,
just as we identify
someone's family name,
someone's family
based on their last name,
so also in heaven
you will be given
a name of Jesus
as a kind of new last name.
Think about this
in your mind now.
You have a first name,
many of you
have a middle name,
you have a last name,
however many names
you have,
they were given
to you by someone
and most of them
indicate your membership
in a family.
And at the end of days
at the resurrection,
Jesus will add
to your names
a final and eternal name,
his new name,
and you will be called
by that name forever.
Your family will be
that of God the Father
and you will partake
in the inheritance
of Christ your brother
and your old identity
will have passed away,
your new will have come.
You belong to Jesus now.
Friends, this letter
has spoken many promises to us
and the sum of them is this.
Your identity
is not in this world.
It is not what people think of you.
It is not in your earthly connections.
It is not in your worldly citizenship.
It is not in your family ties.
It is not in your wealth,
your career,
your education.
Instead, your identity
is in Christ Jesus.
In him, you have
an eternal home,
an eternal family,
an eternal country
in heaven with him,
a forever citizenship.
Be comforted in this,
friends.
Do not fear the rejection
of this world
or the slander of others
because you follow Christ.
Christ.
Well, brothers and sisters,
in view of these promises,
what word of advice
does Jesus have
for those of you
who are faithfully
persevering in this world?
He speaks this in verse 11.
He says,
I am coming soon.
Hold fast what you have
so that no one
may seize your crown.
Amen, friends.
Let me conclude this sermon
with the same exhortation.
Hold fast, dear Christian.
Do not grow weary.
Jesus is coming soon.
Hold fast to what you have.
Do not let anyone
seize your crown.
Pay no attention
when people speak ill of you
because of Christ.
Don't be troubled
of these things.
Instead,
grow in joyfulness.
Grow in mercy.
Grow in long-suffering
and perseverance.
You're king.
He knows your sufferings.
And he comes
to judge the earth.
And there lies in store
for you a citizenship
in heaven,
a membership
in the eternal family of God
which will never fade away.
brothers and sisters,
join me in prayer
thanking God for these things.
Oh, Father in heaven,
we thank you for these promises.
We thank you that you,
by the blood of your son Jesus,
have welcomed us
as your children,
adopted us
as your sons and daughters,
that you have helped us,
you have given us that right
due to nothing we have done
to partake in the inheritance
of Christ.
Father, I pray
for anyone here
who is suffering
under rejection,
under slander,
or gossip,
for anyone
who has been separated
by family or friends
because they follow you.
Father, I pray
you would give them courage,
you would give them perseverance,
you would help them
to hold fast,
to not lose their crown.
Lord, for those of us
who are not suffering
these things,
I pray you would help us
to encourage and exhort
and bear with others
who are,
to build them up
and lift them up.
I pray we would learn
from them too, Lord,
and learn from their wisdom
gotten by perseverance
in the faithful path
of obedience to Christ.
Christ.
Oh, Father,
we also pray
that Jesus would come soon
and we lay ourselves
before him
and it's in his mighty name
that we pray.
Amen.