Philadelphia: Small, but Steadfast

Listen Online:

Transcript:

Let’s turn to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. We’re continuing to look at these seven churches.

Next week will be the last one we look at. Today we’re going to talk about the church at Philadelphia, which is a good church, but it’s also a very small church. It’s sort of an underdog.

I don’t know about you, but I like cheering for the underdog. I like the David and Goliath stories. One of my favorite movies of all time is The Patriot.

And I don’t know if you’ve not seen that, you need to see that. I love that movie. And I will tell you, I watch it, and I tear up every time at the end, and sometimes halfway through.

And some of you men can laugh at me, that’s all right. Something happened when I had children, I just became a big softy, I guess. But I tear up at the last scene when they’re in their final battle.

This ragtag group of men in South Carolina are in their final battle against the British. And it looks like they’re just about to be beaten. It looks like all hope is gone.

And somebody who’s carrying the flag falls in battle. And their leader sees this going on and sees the people retreating in the face of the British and runs out and grabs the flag. Runs out and grabs the flag.

Even as the bullets are whizzing all around him, he grabs the flag and he begins to wave it for the men who are retreating to see, hey, there’s our flag, there’s our standard, there’s our leader standing out there, you know, risking his life to rally the troops. And those who are retreating see this and they see him charging by himself against the British lions and they turn and follow him and they drive the British back. And I know it’s a movie, and I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it.

I love that movie. Now, for one reason, because I love the underdog story. For another reason, because I love America.

And this ragtag group of men, they were men that he found in the church. They were not soldiers. They were men that he found at the church.

They were men that he found down at the local bar. They were escaped slaves. They were just whoever he could assemble, and they were taking on the largest fighting force on planet Earth at that time.

And there’s no reason they should have won. You look at it mathematically, you put everything on paper, there’s no reason they should have won. Not only in the movie, but in history, there’s no reason that the Americans should have won.

We were outgunned, we were out-trained, we were outnumbered, and yet they won. And you know, there were some things that helped. There were some strategic victories where they outsmarted the enemy.

There was the fact that the French Navy came and cut off the British. There were some things that contributed. But I attribute the victory in that movie and in the American Revolution, this revolution, I’m sorry, the American Revolution, both in the movie and the American Revolution.

I attribute in large part the victory to the fact that I really believe that many of these were godly men who were trying to do the right thing, but also the fact that they were fighting for an idea that was bigger than the idea held by the other side. Now the British get a lot of bad press when it comes to the revolution. I don’t think they were evil, but they were fighting for the idea of let’s hold on to the colonies so we can make money.

The American patriots were fighting for the idea of freedom. Now they fell short of that. There were a lot of problems in the country early on, honestly, But their ideal was freedom.

The idea that all men are created equal. These were big ideas. These were ideas worth fighting for and worth dying for. And when there’s something that big on your side, sometimes it doesn’t matter the size of the force.

It doesn’t matter the numbers you can assemble. It doesn’t matter how many people are in your movement. If there’s something worth fighting for, if there’s something worth pressing on for, and something that drives you and gives you the strength to move forward.

For them, for the American patriots in that movie, and in real life, it was that idea of freedom, of defending their homes and protecting their liberties. For the church at Philadelphia, that thing that gave them strength, that drove them forward, was the fact that they were on the side of God. Not that they were fighting a war and that God was on their side, but they were standing for God.

They were on God’s side. There’s a difference. We all want God to be on our side.

We forget about asking if we’re on God’s side. See, it was God that gave strength to the church at Philadelphia. It was God that drove the church at Philadelphia.

It was God that gave them victory after victory that allowed them to stand, even though he says they were just a small group. They were able to accomplish amazing things. And it says in this passage that they were able to do so because of God being with them.

And so if you haven’t already turned there, we’re in Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 7. Talk about this little ragtag church at Philadelphia and the great cause they fought for, which was the cause of God. Starting in verse 7, it says, And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth.

Okay, so he says to the messenger at Philadelphia at the church, write these things, and he identifies himself as he’s done in every letter up to this point, and says these things are said by the one who is holy. Now what is holiness? Holiness is, first of all, absolute perfection.

The Bible says, be holy because God is holy. It also says we can’t actually live up to that level of holiness. Holiness is absolute, sinless perfection.

God is absolutely sinless. God is absolutely perfect. If you think of all the good attributes that we could possibly name, you made a list of all the good qualities that somebody could have, God has them to the infinite degree.

You think of wisdom. You think of goodness. You think of love.

You think of kindness. You think of doing the right thing. Anything that you can list that is a positive, God has it to an infinite degree.

He’s absolutely holy. And there’s also this idea of holiness, of something being set apart. God is different from us.

We are different from God. A lot of times we hear people talk about God as though he’s a guy. He’s a man.

The man upstairs, that drives me insane. The man upstairs, he’s just like us, only a little better. No, no, no, no. God is completely different in his nature from us.

It’s not, we’re not looking at one man who has a lot of goodness and a lot of power versus somebody who’s just a normal person. We’re talking about the difference like between me and my dog. Completely different nature.

Completely different attributes. We are not on the, I love my dog. My dog is smart.

My dog can spell. I will show you all this sometime if I ever get the opportunity. My dog can spell.

My dog is smart and I love my dog, but he is not a human being. We have a different nature. God is completely different from us God is set apart God is something completely different now we’re created in his own image but that doesn’t mean that we are the same as him Jesus Christ as God the Son God in human flesh he’s different he’s different from us he’s of a completely different nature he’s holy he’s set apart and as I said some people talk about the man upstairs or some religions teach that you can become God.

One of the central tenets of Mormonism is that as man is, God once was, and as God is, man may become. The idea that God the Father started out as a man and did the right thing and became God, and we can follow suit. I see that nowhere in the Bible.

That defies the Bible. That defies logic to think that you can switch between man and God. He’s completely holy.

He’s different from us. And Jesus reminds the church at Philadelphia that the one speaking to them is God. He is to be reverenced.

He’s to be admired. He’s to be worshipped. And He’s to be followed.

And He says He’s true. He that is holy, He that is true. God is always true.

God is always right. God is always correct. Not only in what He says and what He does, but also in what He judges.

Well, who are you to say that what I’m doing is wrong? Well, it’s not for me to say it. God already said that.

And God can say that if He wants. God gets to determine right and wrong. And you know what?

He’s always right when He does it. Sorry if you don’t like it. I can say that to me too.

Sorry if you don’t like it. God’s always right. And I hear people talk about stuff in the Old Testament.

Well, I wouldn’t want to worship a God who would allow such and such to happen. Really, you think your judgment is that much higher than God’s? I don’t understand why God does all the things He does.

I don’t understand how God makes His decisions, but I do know that He’s always right. And if my little protests don’t square with what He says, I’m the one who’s wrong, not Him. He’s always true.

He’s always right. The Bible says that He cannot lie. I know we’re told in Sunday school with small children that God can do anything.

And that’s a good way to introduce the idea to children, but we need to, as we put away childish things and grow up and learn more of God and more of the scriptures, we need to be reminded there are some things God can’t do. God can’t do anything that’s inconsistent with his nature. God can do anything that is consistent with his nature, consistent with who he is.

So can God sin? No, because sin is against his nature. Can God create a rock so heavy he can’t lift it?

That’s illogical, and the Bible says, God is not the author of confusion. God is the one that invented logic. So no, he can’t build a rock so heavy he can’t lift it.

That doesn’t even make sense. That’s against God’s nature. Can God part the Red Sea?

Absolutely. Can God create the whole universe with the words of his mouth? Absolutely.

Can God bring all of the universe to a screeching halt with the words of his mouth? Absolutely. But the Bible says God can’t lie.

God can’t sin. God can’t deceive. He’s incapable of those things.

That’s not who he is. And so if we look at God’s word and we say, well, I don’t think that’s, you know, such and such expert says this, but the Bible says this, well, the Apostle Paul said, let God be true and every man a liar. Let us, when God’s word and man’s word contradict each other, let’s realize God for the truth that he speaks and realize that we’re the ones who are wrong.

And so it’s a reminder to the church at Philadelphia that the one who’s speaking to them, the one who has their back, so to speak, is the one who is holy. He is the God of this universe. He’s the God who never lies.

He’s the God who’s always right. He’s the God who always speaks the truth. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David.

Now a key in those days was a symbol of authority. A key was a symbol of you have the right to open something. I have the right to open these doors out here when I come in because I have a key.

when I came here the first few times and was just a guest I didn’t have a key and that’s the way it’s supposed to be but now I have the the right to open the door I have the key I have the authority to be in the building same thing at my house same thing at my parents house I have a key to their house I have a key to my mother-in-law’s house I have the authority to go in and open those doors and he says he has the key of David I don’t think he’s talking about a literal key here but this key of David, this idea of the authority the authority of David the Bible talks about David’s throne having no end, no end to the kingdom of David and so I believe he’s identifying himself again here as the Messiah, as the one who bears that authority that’s spoken of in the Old Testament and as the one with this key he says that he opens and shuts he opens doors and no man shuts them and he shuts doors and no man opens them.

He’s got the master key, ladies and gentlemen. He’s got that key that locks the door, and I’m sorry, your keys don’t work to unlock the door that he’s already locked. And when he unlocks the door, your keys don’t work to lock it back.

He’s got that master key. And he tells them, I know thy works. He said this, I think, to every church.

If not every church, then almost every church we’ve looked at. I know your works. If he told us today, I know your works, He’s saying, I know the way you live your life.

See, he’s not just talking about the religious works that we do in church. Our works are the way we live our lives, whether we live for him or whether we don’t. And he’s saying, I know your works.

I know how you live. I know what’s in your heart. I know the things you do in secret.

I know you. I see everything. And folks, that can either be an encouraging thing or that can be a frightening thing.

When God says, hey, I know who you are in secret. I know it all. I know your works.

I know your life. And so he can either go to well done or he can go to, yeah, we need to fix this. And from there with the church at Philadelphia, he says, behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.

No criticism. No correction. No, hey, you’ve got to get this fixed.

You’ve got to do better. You need to straighten up. He says, I know your works, and you have a wide open door.

I’ve given you a green light to move forward. Keep doing what you’re doing. A wide open path.

Now, I hear it said all the time that there’s no such thing as a perfect church, and there’s not. I read somewhere yesterday where somebody was talking about it and said, You know, if there was a perfect church, don’t join it because you’d mess it up because you’re imperfect. And that’s true.

I wouldn’t want to be a member of a perfect church because I’d mess it up. There’s no such thing as a perfect church. And Philadelphia was not a perfect church.

I’m sure they were not a perfect church. But they were a good church, and I’m sure they had their problems. But you know what? The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins.

And the commentator Matthew Henry said it very well, talking about the people at Philadelphia. That was the name of the town. And just like the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, it means brotherly love.

And so that wasn’t a name they got after the church was established and after the place became Christianized. It was a name that they already had for the region. And there was something about the group of people that lived in and around Philadelphia that they were just kind, welcoming people in general. You say, well, that sounds weird.

Folks, where do we live? We live in Oklahoma. And that doesn’t mean everybody’s perfect here.

It doesn’t mean that everybody’s nice here. But you know, I hear a lot, and I’ve seen a lot of what they call on the news the Oklahoma standard. You know, when there’s a tragedy, when there’s a bombing or a tornado or a shooting, we take care of each other, by and large.

By and large, the people here in Oklahoma are good people. I’m talking human standards, of course, not God’s, but good people. And people in Oklahoma are generally friendly.

and that means that the people who come into the churches are generally going to exhibit those regional characteristics. We’re talking about a group of people. These are the Okies of the ancient Greek world.

These are good people. And I’m letting you know this from what I’ve studied to let you know they were not perfect. There’s no such thing as a perfect church.

And Philadelphia, just because he doesn’t find anything and say, you need to fix this now, It doesn’t mean that they were a perfect church. It doesn’t mean that there weren’t things there that needed tweaking here and there. But by and large, these were loving people.

These were good people who took care of each other and who, as Christians, went even further in loving one another and taking care of one another and trying to love the world outside and get the gospel out. And so for that reason, that love does cover a multitude of sins. And so he says, I know your works.

Now let’s talk about the open door I’ve given you. Folks, I would hope out of all seven churches, I would hope out of all seven churches, that as the Lord looks on this one, as we hold the mirror up to ourselves in this series, I would hope that we would resemble, that we would most resemble Philadelphia. And if we don’t, I hope we get to that point.

Now the one we’ll talk about next week is the one I hope we do not resemble at all. Because there’s not a lot good said there. He doesn’t save the best for last. I’ll just go ahead and give you the spoiler there.

He says, I know your works, and so I’ve given you a wide open door. I’ve set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

If there’s anything negative to be said about the church at Philadelphia, it’s that it wasn’t a big, strong, forceful organization. And I don’t mean force like we’re going to convert people at sword point. They were small.

They weren’t a huge church. They didn’t send a massive army of people out into the city of Philadelphia to try to convert the city. They were a small church.

They didn’t have a lot of strength. They were maybe not the wealthiest church. Some of these that we’ve talked about were the ones that were seemingly strong in numbers, had a good reputation, had all these things going on, and Jesus looks at them and says, What are you doing?

You’re dead inside. He looks at the church at Philadelphia and says, you’ve got the right things going on here. And on your own, though, you just have a little strength.

Small church, weak church, whatever you want to. Applying it to our world today, we would look at these and say these are small churches. These are churches that don’t have a lot of people.

They don’t have a lot of money. They have an older congregation that can’t get out and do all the work. They have all these negatives in their favor, and yet God has given Philadelphia a wide open door here that no man can shut.

That means the government couldn’t shut it. That means the culture around them couldn’t shut it. The hardness of the hearts toward the gospel around them couldn’t shut it.

He says, I’ve given you an open door to go and do the work that you’re set to do. He said, because even though you only have a little bit of strength, even though you’re not the strongest, you’ve taken what strength you do have and you’ve kept my word. you’ve followed what I said, you’ve followed my teachings, you’ve stuck with the truth, and you have not denied my name.

It is easy sometimes. It is easy sometimes when we’re pressed, when we are when we are pushed on from every side, to just say, okay, I’ll compromise a little bit. I’ll go along with what’s going on out here just to make my life a little easier.

Okay, I’ll still worship the Lord, but okay, we’ll go to the temple of Caesar, it’s fine. We might bow, but we won’t really mean it. It’s easy.

It’s easy to take that road and compromise, especially if you don’t have a lot of strength to begin with. But he commended them because even though they only had a little strength, he said, you’ve not denied my name. They’d taken what strength they did have and they’d stood firm.

He says, behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Now, the synagogue of Satan is something that he’s referred to in other passages as well, talking about some of the Jews in the area.

Not saying that all the Jews are followers of Satan, but there were those who persecuted the church who did so because they thought they were doing God’s work. They were kind of like Saul of Tarsus before he became the Apostle Paul. They thought they were doing God’s work.

They thought they were doing the right thing. They were focused on the fact that they were descended from Abraham and they’re following all these rules, so we must be serving God. And what he says is instead you’re really serving Satan.

Because you’re attacking the church of God, you’re attacking the gospel, you’re attacking my work, you’re attacking my people. You’re really serving Satan. You claim even to be Jews.

But for you, the Jewish faith is all about your genetics, where you’re descended from, and these rules you follow. you’ve forgotten everything that Abraham should have taught you which was faith. He said so they’re not even Jews.

They’re not Christians. They’re not even real Jews. They’re just they’re persecuting the gospel and they’re the synagogue of Satan.

He says I will take them and I’ll make them to come worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Now that if he’s talking about bowing down and worshiping them and saying oh the church is great the church at Philadelphia that would be idolatry. God’s not encouraging that.

What he’s talking about here when you look at it a little deeper in the Greek and look at it in context, what he’s talking about here is he’s going to convince those who are persecuting the church at Philadelphia, he’s going to convince them that the church at Philadelphia was right all along, that they’re the ones following God, that they’re the ones he’s loved, that they’re the ones who have kept his word. Not those people who are out zealously trying to serve God by persecuting other people. These people who are following the one who was persecuted the cross.

He said, so remain strong because these people who are persecuting you, these people who are pressing you from every side, he said, eventually they’re going to realize that they were wrong. Because thou has kept the word of my patience, verse 10, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. He said, there’s going to be a time when temptation is going to come, And it’s going to try, it’s going to test everybody.

That at some point the temptation is going to be so great that it’s going to be so hard to withstand. It’s going to show what everybody’s really made of. He said, and when that time comes, because you have been patient, because you’ve kept my word, he said, I will keep you from that hour of temptation.

And folks, that’s not just a promise to the church at Philadelphia. He’s told us that when temptation comes, he will make a way of escape for us. that he will not suffer us to be tempted beyond what we can handle.

And I’ve told some of you before, I hear that phrase all the time, God won’t put more on us than we can handle. That’s true and that’s biblical in terms of temptation. In terms of circumstances and struggle, I don’t believe so.

I don’t believe that’s what he’s talking about. I won’t say God has given it to me, but God has allowed me to have circumstances piled on me that were more than I could handle. But thankfully they were not more than he could handle.

But when it comes to temptation, he promises that we won’t be tempted beyond what we can handle with his help. Again, that he’ll make a way of escape for us. And so he’s told the church at Philadelphia here, I’ll keep you from the temptation.

I will save you from that temptation. I’ll give you a way out. And it’s true in times of temptation, in times of trial and temptation and struggle with sin, We see who we really are.

When it would be easier to just give in and do the easy wrong thing, those are the times of testing when we see where we really stand. And he says in verse 11, Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Okay, again, this is not saying that if you don’t hold fast, if you don’t do just the right things, that somebody’s going to take your crown of life.

No, it’s just an encouragement of saying, you can be assured that when you have stood against this temptation, when you have held fast to my word, when you’ve been faithful to the end, it will not have been in vain because you have a crown that no man can take away. Verse 12 says, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. And there’s a lot there.

There’s a lot there in that verse. I won’t try to explain every detail of it because there’s some disagreement and conjecture about what some of it means. But in the ancient world, when somebody would win a great military victory, there would be columns and pillars that would be designed and would be sculpted and would be dedicated to that conqueror.

the Arc de Triomphe even though it’s not ancient the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is inscribed with names of places and people that Napoleon had conquered I believe it was Napoleon because it was hearkening back to that idea of the Roman Empire and they would build columns and they would carve, for example, Julius Caesar conqueror of Gaul what’s now France and it would be a monument to the one who conquered. It would be a monument celebrating the great victory of the one who won. We’re not talking about God’s people being pillars in the temple that hold it up.

The temple of God doesn’t need us to hold it up. But talking about making those who overcome, and again, overcoming means faith. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

Not that we were good enough, not that we were smart enough, but that we realized our sin and our need for a Savior, and we trusted Jesus Christ to be that Savior. That’s the faith that overcomes the world. And those who overcome, he says, will be like pillars in the temple of God, and he will go out no more.

Never will we be taken out, but we’ll be these ornamental monument pillars in the temple of God with his name carved on them. Why? Because he’s the victor.

Because he’s the one who’s won the victory once and for all for us over sin, over temptation, over death, over the world. He’s the one who’s conquered. He’s the one who’s won the victory.

And so to say that his people would be pillars in the temple of God and that the name of God and the name of the city of God and the name of the Son of God would be carved on those pillars mean that we will stand with God in heaven as a monument, as a testimony to the victory that He’s won. That our very presence, ladies and gentlemen, with Him in heaven in eternity is testimony. We’ll stand testimony for all eternity to the greatness of God and the great victory that He won over sin when Jesus Christ went to the cross.

You see, I believe that when when Jesus went to the cross, Satan probably thought He’d won.

and yet that was the moment of his great defeat he had these plans that well if I can’t be God if I’m going to be cast into hell then I’m going to take with me everyone I can he knew he couldn’t hurt God but he could hurt the creation that God loved and so he thought I’ll take as many people down with me as I can and yet when Jesus Christ went to the cross when he shed his blood when he died he made a sacrifice for my sins and for yours so that our sins could be forgiven and suddenly satan’s plan to drag as many of us as he could with him was undone because suddenly the slate was wiped clean the opportunity there was the opportunity was now there for god to forgive that sin that had condemned us to hell for god to to forgive us and to adopt us as his children and our very presence in heaven our very presence in heaven points to how great God is and the victory that he won in saving I didn’t save myself folks you didn’t save yourselves if you’re a believer this morning you didn’t save yourself none of us get into heaven because of how good we were if that was the standard we’re all in big trouble because we might do good things but we’ve also done bad things.

And God’s standard is absolute holiness and perfection, sinlessness, and we can’t do that. None of us will be in heaven because of what we did. None of us will be in heaven because we conquered sin, because we conquered death.

We’ll be there because God, through Jesus Christ, conquered sin. And so, will we stand there like statues? I don’t think that’s what it’s talking about.

Will he literally come and carve his name into us? I don’t think that’s what it’s talking about. But we will be the pillars.

We’ll be the ceremonial columns in the temple that point to the victory we won on the cross. So what does this teach us about the church at Philadelphia? Because we are, like the church at Philadelphia, a small church.

I hope that spiritually we’re like the church at Philadelphia, in what strength we have, we put into following Him to realize that even though we’re small, even though in the world’s eyes when you’ve got churches of thousands of people, we may seem insignificant, and yet God can use a ragtag group of people to accomplish great things. Not because we’re so strong, not because we’re so wonderful, but because we’re on His side. Again, never forget, we don’t ask God to be on our side.

we make sure we get on God’s side because we’re on God’s side that we can do things he can open doors that no man can shut and shut doors that no man can open he can give us a green light and accomplish through us things that we shouldn’t be able to do for our size for our age for our wealth for whatever it is so some things that we can learn just very quickly first of all a faithful church has a spiritual impact disproportionate to its size sounds like a lot of fancy words It just means it doesn’t matter how big the church is. A small church that’s faithful, a small church that’s faithful can do more things for God than a big church that is not. I mean, it’s just that simple.

A big church can do a lot of things, but if it’s not being faithful to what God’s called it to do and to be, it’s not doing those things for God. Don’t get discouraged about the size of the church, about the money, about what it. .

. realize that it’s faithfulness and it’s following the God who opens doors that no man can shut and shuts doors that no man ca