Revelation 3, seven through 13. Even though there are seven different letters written to seven different historical churches, it might be more accurate to say that this is really one letter with seven different parts to it, written to the universal church. Of course, you might ask, well, why then does Jesus write seven letters instead of one? Well, that's to underscore the point that Jesus intimately knows His church. He knows each and every one of His churches. He knows the exact circumstances and challenges that each of His churches face. And that means He knows our exact, precise challenges and circumstances. that we face in Lookout Mountain in 2022. This ought to encourage us to listen, to listen to Him and to trust Him as He speaks. Revelation 3, 7 through 13, these are the words of Christ to us. Let us listen in faith. 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. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen. Let's pray again. Father, our God, again, we ask for your favor. Again, we ask for your blessing. Again, we ask, Lord, for Your presence. We pray, Lord, that You would impress Your Word upon our hearts. You remind us that we are accountable for what we hear. We pray that You would do the work in the Holy Spirit to dig deep in our hearts and uproot sin and unbelief and cultivate in us, Lord, a crop, fruit for the glory of God. We pray that you would give us an ear to hear as our Lord calls for here in this passage. We pray that you would do this, that you would answer our prayers this hour as we ask them in Jesus' name. Amen. I've underscored many times that the book of Revelation is a book of paradox. He teaches us that what may seem to the eye of sense is often the exact opposite of how things really are. And we saw this last week, if you'll remember. We saw a church that was seemingly alive. They had a great reputation for being alive. To the eye of sense, this church was a church teeming with energy, teeming with zeal, teeming with life, and yet Jesus says, in reality, you are dead. you are actually a dead church. Well, today we get kind of the exact opposite of that. This is a church in Philadelphia that Jesus says has little power. They face opposition from other religious groups in their city. They had to patiently endure, Jesus says, that implies that they had traveled a long and difficult road. All the signs point to it being a small church, a weak church, an insignificant church, and yet they receive nothing but praise from the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a rebuke to be found. In fact, it's noteworthy, of the two churches among these seven that receive no rebuke, both of them are small, both of them are seemingly insignificant, and both of them are persecuted and are suffering. Things aren't always what they seem. But when we consider the situation here in Philadelphia, I think it should resonate with us a little bit. In the grand scheme of things, we are not a very big church. We're fairly small. We, too, lack power and resources and gifts of other churches or other organizations. And we also face some significant opposition in our day as well. We don't have a synagogue, a synagogue of Satan as Jesus describes it, oppressing us like the church in Philadelphia, but we do live in a very difficult day. We live in a day of deconstruction, right? Where there's constant attacks upon the church and upon her doctrine. We live in a day that the air we breathe is post-modernism and critical theory, these ways of looking at reality that undermine objective truth and the truth we proclaim. We live in a day where every other world religion regularly invades our home through television and media and phones. We live in a secular age. The supernatural is dismissed by science. And the comforts of technology subtly work to convince us that there really is no need for God. We've got things pretty good here and the future is bright. But the question that the church in Philadelphia faced was, how will they stand against the opposition and not die out with that generation? How will they fulfill their commission and see the growth and advancement of the gospel when they are so weak? And these are questions that we face as well in light of these challenges. Undoubtedly, I think when we see the situation here, they were tempted to think things like, do we really have the truth? Are we really the ones who've got things right? Are we sure that the God of the Bible loves us? And brethren, we fall into these same temptations and doubts from time to time as well. We may be wondering, well, if we have the truth, why is the church so small? If we have the truth, why do so many seem to be deconstructing and rejecting it? And even if we do have the truth, what good is it given how small and weak and insignificant and powerless we are in the grand scheme of everything else that the world has to offer? Well, these are the kind of questions, the kind of things that Jesus seeks to address here. And what we find as we look at this passage is that even though they appeared small and weak and insignificant in the eyes of the world, in the eye of sense, Christ says, in me, in my power, nothing and nobody can stand against you. And he writes to assure them of his love for them, assure them of the greatness of his power in them, assure them of the comfort that they have in him in the gospel. Brethren, what we see is that this is the only sure foundation upon which we stand firm in the face of a hostile world, even if we don't see the results that we think we ought to be getting in the gospel. So, as we work through this, I want to consider a few things. I want to consider a common problem, a trustworthy solution, and then three assuring promises. So whether that's a three-fold or a five-fold outline, I'll leave that to you. But a common problem, a trustworthy solution, and then three assuring promises that Christ gives to his church. I want to consider first the problem. The problem that this church faced, I've already hinted at it, but I want to consider it in more detail. What kind of problem did this church face? And really what I mean by that is not really a problem because Jesus gives no rebuke to this church. There wasn't any sin or unfaithfulness here. Jesus gives all commendation. This is a faithful church. But they had a challenge before them. And the challenge really centers on Jewish opposition. All the language that Jesus uses concerns the Jew and Gentile relationship in the kingdom of God. In verse eight, Jesus says, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut. It's clear that the church had kept getting doors shut in their face, for lack of a better term. And they had little power to stop this. There was nothing they could do about it. It seems as though Jewish opposition had made life difficult for them, maybe socially, maybe economically. But really and truly, the door that Jesus refers to here is the door to the kingdom of God. In verse nine, the synagogue of Satan say that they are Jews, but Jesus says they lie. It seems as though the Jews were saying to these Christians, we are the people of God. and you are not. We have the promises of God and you do not. We have access and entrance into the kingdom of God and you do not. They were slamming the door in the face of these Christians saying, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And it seems to have shaken the church. They seem to be having some sort of crisis over it. Again, not saying that they fell into sin or unbelief, but Jesus writes to encourage them because clearly they were having some sort of crisis of faith. Crisis of security and comfort in the gospel. A crisis where they're doubting things. And what we see, of course, they're not having a crisis of caving to outside pressure. compromising the gospel or tolerating false teachers, but a crisis of comfort and assurance and security in the gospel. Are we sure that Jesus is the Messiah? The Messiah that the Old Testament promised. Are we sure that we have the truth? They're saying that we don't. Are we sure that we are safe and secure in Him? They're telling us that we need something else. And if so, why are we so weak and powerless and insignificant? Why does it seem like every opportunity is like a door slamming, getting shut in our face? This is the kind of crisis that they were experiencing, the kind of doubts that they were having. And brethren, I think again, as we kind of bring it into our present day, at first it might be a little difficult to identify with. I don't think you're kept up at night by the fact that the synagogue down in Chattanooga says that the kingdom of God is shut to you. I don't think that bothers you. I don't think you probably don't stay up at night thinking about whether Jesus is actually the Messiah prophesied from the Old Testament. We typically don't worry about things like, well, I'm a Gentile, all the promises of God in the Old Testament are promised to Israelites, and so maybe that door is shut to me. However, we do face similar type pressure from other religious groups in our day. Just the other day, someone said to me, my trouble with the church is that Christians are so convinced that they are right and everybody else is wrong. That's why I can never accept what they say. This is a common objection in our day. That's what I mean when I said earlier we live in a day of post-modernism. Absolute truth is scoffed at. And this is what, in some sense, the church in Philadelphia was facing as well. Another common objection to our Christian faith in our day is the fact that the church is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. How in the world would we think that the church has the truth, the truth of God, when they can't even fix their own issues? Christians still get divorced. Christians still have affairs. Christians still have unruly children. Christians still have anger issues, sexual immorality issues, greed issues. We also hear, similar to this, if Christianity is true, why doesn't it fix some of the great social ills of our day? If Christianity is true, why are so many churches small and insignificant and weak? If we have the message of Almighty God, wouldn't we expect to see a greater manifestation of that power? Wouldn't we expect to see the church change the world? Wouldn't we expect to see the pews full each Sunday? If we have the power and the favor and the blessing of God, wouldn't we expect to see that all of our endeavors to spread the gospel would be met with great success? Brethren, sometimes these things can cause a little bit of a crisis of faith for us as well. It can shake our confidence too, and it can hinder our fruitfulness. And that's the challenge here. That's the challenge that this church was facing. And the question really is, in the face of this opposition, will they cease fighting that opposition? Or will they turn inward out of self-protection and fail in their commission to be a light and a witness of Christ in the world? I mean, every door keeps getting shut. What's the use anymore? We might as well just close our doors and huddle in because we got no hope to stand against all of that. That's the problem, that's the crisis, that's the challenge that this church is faced with. But secondly then, what's the solution? How does Jesus address this? Secondly, we see a trustworthy solution. If you've been here the last few weeks, you probably know where I'm going. Every letter, each one of these seven churches, every challenge that is spoken of in those letters is answered by how Jesus begins describing himself. It's always his description in an introduction that anticipates what that church needs. And we see the same here in verse seven. Jesus says, how does he describe himself? 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. Describes himself as the holy one. And foundational to the crisis that this church faces is the fact that he is holy. And that we in him are holy as well. Think about holiness in relation to the Old Testament. You know it's deeply rooted in Old Testament theology. Just read the book of Leviticus, for example. But Deuteronomy 6-7 says, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the nation of Israel, God says there, were a people holy to the Lord. And then this nation of Israelites, this holy nation, was given a ceremonial law, a meticulous system of holiness, these rights that were necessary for one to approach God in the temple or in the tabernacle, implying, of course, you want to go through that open door of the kingdom? You need to do this first. So to this church in Philadelphia, the Jews were saying, look, you believe the Old Testament, right? Yes, we believe the Old Testament. Well, you're not a Jew. So you're not a holy nation. And you don't follow this law. So you have no access to the kingdom of God. The door of God's presence is shut to you. Don't you see? And that's why Jesus says, look, I am the Holy One. He takes upon Himself the Old Testament designation. Yahweh would often describe Himself as the Holy One of Israel. And Jesus wants the church to know that in Me, you are holy. In Me, the law has been fulfilled. In Me, all the demands of God's holiness to enter into God's presence have been perfectly met. That's the solution to the claim that you are not Jews and you are not holy is not found in the Philadelphian Christians themselves. They don't need to follow the Old Testament ceremonial law. They didn't need to become Jews, Israelites. In Christ, He is the true Israel. He is the Holy One. And in Him, they had it all. And brethren, the same is true for you and me as well, if you are in Christ Jesus today. Yes, Christians still sin. We still struggle with hypocrisy. We still struggle with a lot of the same problems that people out in the world, unbelievers struggle with as well. Christianity isn't a magic pill that fixes everything. The key to our comfort is the fact that ultimately holiness and our fitness to enter God's presence is found in Him and not in us. I said it earlier. Christianity is a religion of substitution. Christ in your place. Christ holy for you. I mean, honestly, if you and me and how we live and our wisdom and our counsel and our solution to life's problems, if those things are the hope of the world, the world has no hope. We point people to Christ, Him we proclaim. We find our sufficiency in Him, not in us, not in our strength, not in our efforts, not in our endeavors, not in our accomplishments, not in our good works, not in our strength. We point people to Christ. Related to this is why Jesus also says that He is the true one. Here, the emphasis on true is more like genuine. He's the real deal. The synagogue of Satan said, we are Jews, but Jesus says they lie. Abraham might have been their father genealogically, but the truth is Satan is their real father because they turn away from Christ and they persecute his body, the church. This is exactly what Jesus says to the religious leaders in John chapter eight. Remember, Abraham is our father, we weren't born of fornication like you. And Jesus says, no, actually you are of your father, the devil. Why? Because you're doing his works. You don't listen to my words, you don't believe that the Father sent me, and you seek to kill me. This is the same thing that this synagogue of Satan, this synagogue there in Philadelphia, it's the same thing that they were doing to the church, to the Christians there. They didn't hear the gospel, they didn't believe in Christ, they sought the destruction of the body of Christ. So Jesus writes to assure the Christians there in the face of their lies, know that I am the truth, I am the genuine, I'm the real deal, I'm the genuine Israelite, I'm the genuine Holy One. It's the same in our day as we think about how the world scoffs at any idea of absolute truth. At the end of the day, ultimately, it's not our arguments that are going to convince people. It's not where the power lies. It's the Holy Spirit that must change hearts. It's the Holy Spirit who is, as we considered in the Sunday school hour, the spirit of truth, John 14. It's the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to embrace truth itself, which is embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truth. He is the real deal. He is genuine. And then Jesus describes himself as the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one will open. Remember the Jews were shutting out the Christians from the kingdom of God? So Jesus writes to remind them and assure them, I have ultimate power over that kingdom. He takes upon himself the language of Isaiah chapter 22. There, Isaiah prophesies, God through Isaiah promises to give his servant Eliakim the key to the house of David. This is a way of saying I'm going to give you the responsibility for the administration of my kingdom. Jesus is saying, I have the true key. I am the true servant of the Lord. I am the true and greater David. I have ultimate power and authority over the kingdom of God. The very key and entrance into the kingdom that was promised in the Old Testament has been given to Jesus Christ. And of course we could say a lot about this. No longer does the kingdom center around a nation, the nation of Israel. No longer is entrance into that kingdom a matter of lineage. Jesus came proclaiming, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I alone open up the door to the holy of holies. I alone open and I alone shut as well. And the question to the Philadelphian Christians is the same for us. Do we believe that? Do we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? Do we believe that our holiness is only found in Him, that truth is only found in Him, that access to the kingdom of God is only found in Him? Because if you don't have holiness of Christ, you don't have holiness. If you don't cling to the truth of Christ, you've embraced a lie. Christ calls us to look to Him, to look to Him because He is the solution to whatever problem the church faces, So often when we have a crisis of faith, it's very simple, but don't overlook it because it's simple. So often when we have a crisis of faith, it's because we're too focused upon ourselves. We're too focused on this present world. We're too focused on the results that the gospel we think should bring. Well, you know what, I think the gospel should fix this sin that I'm struggling with, and it hasn't. I think the gospel should fix this sin in someone else that is hurting me, and it hasn't. I think the gospel should have greater results in the church and in the world than it does. Brethren, when we get caught up on the results, we've taken our eyes off of Christ. We need to remember that He is sovereign over the results. Paul says, I planted a Paulist water, but God gave the increase. So this is a call to fix our eyes upon Christ in light of all these challenges. So that's the problem and that's the solution. Jesus doesn't just walk away and leave it there. I want to conclude by pointing out the three promises that he gives to those who cling to him. Three assuring promises that he leaves them with. And what I mean by promise is when Jesus says, if you look to me as a solution, Here is what I promise you. Here is what you can be assured of. The first promise he gives is an assurance of victory. Although the church is weak, although the church is small, although the church is insignificant, Christ is the one who opens and shuts the doors. And if they are in him, they have all power. Again, Jesus says, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut. As we considered a few moments ago, that is the door into the kingdom of God, the presence of God. As Jesus says in John 10, my sheep, no one can snatch them out of my hand. I've set before you an open door, no one can shut it. No one can keep you out of the kingdom. But there's another aspect of this too. Jesus also says in John 10 that I am the door of the sheep, the door through which we walk through into the kingdom of God. And so it's an open door for us to enter, but it's an open door for others to enter as well. And I think this is what Jesus brings out here. The door isn't just open for you, Philadelphian Christians. You know it's open for your enemies too. This comes out in verse nine. He says, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Jesus opens the door so that we, but also so that others might enter as well. And that's the promise of victory that Jesus is giving them here. He's saying, I'm going to make you a witness, even though you're weak, even though you're small, even though you're insignificant, excuse me, I'm going to make you an effective witness to those who oppress you. Your witness, your clinging to my name, will bear fruit among your enemies. See, bowing down before their feet is language that's taken from the book of Isaiah, and Isaiah promises there, God through Isaiah again, he promises that one day there's this tiny little nation of Israel. Right, and there's these great big nations that are more powerful than them, that are oppressing them, that are plundering them, they're small, they're weak, they're persecuted. God says, don't worry, one day, these Gentiles who oppress you are going to come and bow down at your feet and confess that I have loved you. And Jesus is saying, this is the fulfillment of that prophecy. But notice how the tables are turned. It's a tremendous irony. On one hand, we see in the book of Acts, Gentiles do come and turn to Israel's Messiah. All of us Gentiles here today are evidence of that, of that prophecy being fulfilled. But in another sense here, Jesus is saying to these ethnic Jews, who are really not Jews spiritually, they're sons of Satan, they're gonna bow down before the ethnic Gentiles, who are in reality spiritual Israel. See the irony there? What God promised in the Old Testament to Israel are yes and amen in Christ. What God promised to the Old Testament Israel is now given to the church and to those who trust in the true Israelite, Jesus Christ. And key to this, I think, is reading this, don't read this as kind of a begrudging bowing down and confessing, right, at the edge of a sword. This isn't their enemies coming and just being humiliated and crumbling before them. The picture here is of salvation. It's a salvific acknowledgement of the one true and living God. The enemies will come and confess Christ is Lord. This reminds me of the scene, a beautiful scene at the end of the Lord of the Rings. Everybody bows down before the hobbits. The smallest, simplest, weakest of creatures in that fantasy world. The ones who nobody thought were any good, who could accomplish anything of any value. They ended up being the ones who conquered the kingdom. Brethren, this is the hope that we have as well. when we're tempted to think that the enemy is too strong, our resources are too weak, the hatred of God in this culture is too deep, the proclamation of the gospel is simply not enough. We must also take comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ opens and shuts the doors, that He is sovereign over salvation, that He will build His church, and that even now some of our greatest enemies will one day come and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Saul the persecutor becomes Saul the servant of Christ and servant of the church, excuse me, Paul the servant of the church. Helps us love the mission field rather than see them as our enemy to be destroyed. Second promise though, after victory, some within who oppose you will come and bow at your feet, but the second promise is my presence. He says in verse 10, because you have kept my word, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming upon those who dwell on the earth. What is the hour of trial? Some believe that this is reference to the seven year tribulation. They believe in a rapture, something to still come yet in the future. But this can't be true because this would mean nothing to the first century church. They live thousands of years before this supposed great year tribulation. This would mean nothing to them. All throughout Revelation, a great tribulation is spoken of in terms of what all Christians experience in this present life. You are undergoing the great tribulation right now, because your reward is still future, because we suffer here on this earth. We are oppressed. The life of a Christian is a spiritual battle, it is a war. That's why John himself says in Revelation 1.9, as he's kind of giving the introduction to this book, he says, I'm a fellow partaker with you in the tribulation. So what is this hour of trial? Well, I think the key to this is to focus on how Jesus says it's upon those who dwell upon the earth. This is a phrase that's often used in revelation to refer to unbelievers, earthly people, citizens of earth rather than citizens of heaven. So what, basically what Jesus is saying is, I'm going to keep you, not from physical harm, you're undergoing great tribulation, I'm going to keep you from spiritual harm. I will come and judge the wicked. I will bring trials and tribulations upon them. I will winnow out my church, for example, as we see in some of the other letters. But even still, I will hold you fast. I will keep you from the hour of trial. In other words, I will preserve your faith. The trials and troubles and difficulties that shatter the faith of unbelievers, that are an act of judgment upon them, will rather serve to purify and strengthen your faith. because He is with us and He will never leave or forsake us. The third and final promise then is one of security. Christ promises to keep us secure. The city of Philadelphia was famous for its earthquakes. Just a few decades earlier during the life of Christ, 17 AD, an earthquake completely leveled the city. The aftershocks were particularly terrifying, so bad that people moved outside the city rather than continue living in it, and they would come and go during the day as they were doing their business and commerce. Rome ended up sending some significant aid to the city, so to express their gratitude, the citizens of Philadelphia renamed their city. They renamed it to Caesar's New City. They wanted to honor their patron and their rescuer. Perhaps then you see why Jesus uses the language that he does here in verse 12. To the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. They had little strength, but a pillar is strong. I will make you part of the very foundation of the holy city. No more worrying whether the house will collapse. No more fear of life's earthquakes. Christ will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And he promises that as a pillar of that temple, never shall he go out of it. No more fleeing to the countryside out of fear of aftershocks. They're given a permanent and stable place within the dwelling place, the city of God. And He says, I will write My name, the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, and My own new name upon them. When Jesus says, I will write on him the name of My God, this is a clear contrast to the city of Philadelphia being renamed Caesar City. Instead, holy and true are your name. I'm giving you My seal. I'm giving you My righteousness. I'm giving you this passport. into the city of God, my name upon you. You know, the mark of the beast in Revelation is often spoken of as written on the forehead and on the right hand. Well, the mark of God's own in Revelation is often also spoken of in the same way. He seals us with his name on our forehead, signifying what we think and believe, and our right hand signifying what we do. I will write upon him my name. holy and true shall be our name. And he says, I will write upon them the name of the city of my God. Ezekiel defines the city of my God as the Lord is there, the city of glory, the city of the presence of the Lord for all eternity. I will never leave you or forsake you. And then he says, I will write upon them my own new name, which we're not exactly sure what it means, but it's a sign of intimacy, a sign of love. We considered this a few weeks ago, kind of like, you know, we have affectionate names for our children or for our spouses. Sometimes we'll call each other nicknames that nobody else in the world shares. And it's a sign of that unity and that intimacy. And Christ is saying, don't you know, I will name you. You will be mine forever. You will bear my name permanently. Forever. And you will have access into the city of God. You will have residence in the city of God. You have the promise of My abiding love in the city of God for now and for all eternity. This is how Christ assures them of His love and His power. You will have victory in Me. I am with you. And I grant you security and comfort that Caesar cannot. and this world cannot, even in the midst of life's earthquakes. Brethren, I hope you see that the same is true for you and me if you are in Christ today. If we keep His name, if we hold fast to His name, if we patiently endure and do not deny His name, these promises are for us as well. We must not get caught up in the objections and accusations of those who do not know God. We must not get caught up in how big or small we are, how significant or insignificant we are, whether our ministry is truly working, or whether the gospel seems to be falling flat. Our focus as a church must be upon clinging to Christ, listening to His Word, trusting in His name, trusting that He will build His church, that He will secure His church. This is a call, ultimately, for us to remember that Christ's power is made perfect in our weakness. Do we believe that? Do we believe that we must decrease and He must increase? Do we believe that where we are weak, He is strong? This is the foundation. This is a solid and stable foundation upon which we must stand firm in the face of a hostile world. Even if we don't see or get the results that we think we ought to. Brethren, let's remember again that the Christian life, that the church, that the gospel is one of paradox. What seems to the eye of sense is often very different than the eye of faith. We are called to look higher. We are called to look in his word. We are called to look and behold our savior. Well, may God give us grace. May he pour out his spirit. to write these promises upon our heart and to lead and guide us in this way as well. Amen. Let's pray.