[The following is the full manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 6th of March, 2016. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Today as we continue our study of the seven churches of Revelation and our self-examination from our observance of Lent, we come to a city whose name should be quite familiar to you: Philadelphia. That word, “Philadelphia”, comes from the Greek words “phileo” – to love – and “adelphos” – brother. So “Philadelphia” means “brotherly love”.
And of course we’re not talking about the United States city of that name, up in Pennsylvania. No, today we travel back to Biblical Asia, into the region of Lydia and about 25 miles southeast of Sardis, home to another of the seven churches whose story we examined just last week. Our intent and prayer is that through this series we might better understand the church that God wants us to be, and what we might need to do to become that church.
So far we’ve looked at the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis. Listen and follow along to what Jesus said to the sixth church, as saved for us by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation chapter 3 verses 7 through 13, reading from the New King James Version of our Bible…
And of course we’re not talking about the United States city of that name, up in Pennsylvania. No, today we travel back to Biblical Asia, into the region of Lydia and about 25 miles southeast of Sardis, home to another of the seven churches whose story we examined just last week. Our intent and prayer is that through this series we might better understand the church that God wants us to be, and what we might need to do to become that church.
So far we’ve looked at the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis. Listen and follow along to what Jesus said to the sixth church, as saved for us by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation chapter 3 verses 7 through 13, reading from the New King James Version of our Bible…
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
--Revelation 3:7-13 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, please shut the doors of this place to Satan’s distractions, and open the doors of our hearts that we might hear and understand the message You have for us this morning. Speak to us of how best to be Your Son’s church, and the true family of Christ. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Hope springs eternal”? There were four ladies sitting in their nursing home, chatting about all the goings-on there, when the nurse brought in a new resident… a man. He was quite dapper for an older gentleman, and one of the ladies asked him where he had been for so long. He responded by saying he had been in prison for 25-years, serving time for killing his wife. The dear lady perked up, smiled, and said, “So, you’re single then?”
And then there was the atheist college professor who stood before his class and said, "If anyone can tell me where God is, I will give that person a hundred dollars." One student responded, "Sir, I will give you a hundred dollars if you can tell me where God is not."
The first of those little episodes is all about hope: the woman hoping the man had changed, and hoping for a change in her own life through him. But the second is all about faith. That student not only had faith in God’s omnipresence, in His being everywhere, but also the faith to stand up and challenge someone that was in a position of authority over them. In a similar situation, would we have the courage of our faith as that student showed, or would we hope the professor changed his whole outlook and got religion on his own?
Jesus opens this sixth letter as He did the others: by identifying Himself as the sender. In this case, the message comes from “He who is holy, He who is true”. But then Jesus adds something a little different. He paraphrases Isaiah chapter 22 verse 22 for the last part of that identifier: “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”.
Why would Jesus quote from the Old Testament Jewish prophet Isaiah in His greeting to a Christian church? Well, because there were quite a few Jewish converts in this particular church. In fact, the city of Philadelphia was home to a fairly good sized Jewish population and a rather prominent synagogue. The reference Jesus makes to that synagogue may sound familiar. Back in His second letter, to the church in Smyrna, Jesus called the Jews worshiping there “a synagogue of Satan”. And He uses that very same description here in Philadelphia.
Fortunately for them, He is not referring to those converted Jews in the Christian church, but rather those false Jews who have, for the most part, abandoned the Law of Moses and adopted the ways of the culture around them. No, for His church in Philadelphia, Jesus has nothing but good things to say, just as He did for the church in Smyrna. He knows their works, and must approve of them for He makes no negative comment about them, like He did with Sardis, when He said their works were not perfect before God.
And then the Lord proclaims that He has set before that church family an open door that no one can shut. He is giving them an opportunity that is unlimited. Again this is a reference to the Isaiah verse, but it holds the promise that the church family will enjoy the divine favor of God, that they will be able to do great things.
Now Jesus understands that they are a small church, in numbers. That what He means when He says, “you have a little strength”. That, and the fact they were probably quite poor. You see, the city of Philadelphia was prone to earthquakes, frequent earthquakes, quite destructive earthquakes. To pay for nearly constant restoration, the city powers-that-be levied stiff taxes on its citizens. The Christian church there was not singled out for stiffer penalties, but since they shared resources with those in need, as the early church practiced, they likely suffered a greater financial burden than other citizens. So they were small and poor.
We don’t know how large this congregation might have been, nor if they had suffered splits and losses over the years, like a certain church family we all know. But they had kept enough souls in the church body to be able to do those good works, and more than that, to be able to persevere within that community and against its many temptations. They kept the word of Jesus in their hearts and stayed true to Him, not denying Him or His name. That last brings to mind Peter and his denial of Jesus on that night when our Lord was arrested.
All indications are that the family in Philadelphia took full advantage of that open door Jesus gave them, doing great works indeed. Some Bible scholars compare the church in Philadelphia with the Christian church of the 19th century. During the 1800s the church awakened from its stupor and began pushing into the far corners of the earth with a great missionary movement. Doors opened for them that could not be shut. Jesus opened those doors so that His Gospel message could go out and prosper.
The same goes for the church family in Philadelphia. Whereas the church in Smyrna was told that the synagogue of Satan would not prevail against it, the church in Philadelphia received Jesus’ promise that some from that synagogue would be converted to believe in Jesus as Lord. These new believers who Jesus described earlier as false Jews would even bow down in front of the church family and worship Christ with them.
And then Jesus makes a similar promise as He has before, that those who hold fast to their belief and their faith will be richly rewarded upon His return. As He did for the church in Pergamos, Jesus told the Philadelphia family they would receive new names, personal names just for them from Him. They will receive crowns that no one can take from them. And they will become pillars – upholding stalwarts - in the very Temple of God, with no need to ever leave heaven again.
Family, this letter is all about faith. The church family in Philadelphia had faith, rock solid faith, unflinching faith, faith that even the frequent earthquakes could not shake loose. The author of the Book of Hebrews defines faith for us, in the very 1st verse of chapter 11…
Have you ever heard the expression, “Hope springs eternal”? There were four ladies sitting in their nursing home, chatting about all the goings-on there, when the nurse brought in a new resident… a man. He was quite dapper for an older gentleman, and one of the ladies asked him where he had been for so long. He responded by saying he had been in prison for 25-years, serving time for killing his wife. The dear lady perked up, smiled, and said, “So, you’re single then?”
And then there was the atheist college professor who stood before his class and said, "If anyone can tell me where God is, I will give that person a hundred dollars." One student responded, "Sir, I will give you a hundred dollars if you can tell me where God is not."
The first of those little episodes is all about hope: the woman hoping the man had changed, and hoping for a change in her own life through him. But the second is all about faith. That student not only had faith in God’s omnipresence, in His being everywhere, but also the faith to stand up and challenge someone that was in a position of authority over them. In a similar situation, would we have the courage of our faith as that student showed, or would we hope the professor changed his whole outlook and got religion on his own?
Jesus opens this sixth letter as He did the others: by identifying Himself as the sender. In this case, the message comes from “He who is holy, He who is true”. But then Jesus adds something a little different. He paraphrases Isaiah chapter 22 verse 22 for the last part of that identifier: “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”.
Why would Jesus quote from the Old Testament Jewish prophet Isaiah in His greeting to a Christian church? Well, because there were quite a few Jewish converts in this particular church. In fact, the city of Philadelphia was home to a fairly good sized Jewish population and a rather prominent synagogue. The reference Jesus makes to that synagogue may sound familiar. Back in His second letter, to the church in Smyrna, Jesus called the Jews worshiping there “a synagogue of Satan”. And He uses that very same description here in Philadelphia.
Fortunately for them, He is not referring to those converted Jews in the Christian church, but rather those false Jews who have, for the most part, abandoned the Law of Moses and adopted the ways of the culture around them. No, for His church in Philadelphia, Jesus has nothing but good things to say, just as He did for the church in Smyrna. He knows their works, and must approve of them for He makes no negative comment about them, like He did with Sardis, when He said their works were not perfect before God.
And then the Lord proclaims that He has set before that church family an open door that no one can shut. He is giving them an opportunity that is unlimited. Again this is a reference to the Isaiah verse, but it holds the promise that the church family will enjoy the divine favor of God, that they will be able to do great things.
Now Jesus understands that they are a small church, in numbers. That what He means when He says, “you have a little strength”. That, and the fact they were probably quite poor. You see, the city of Philadelphia was prone to earthquakes, frequent earthquakes, quite destructive earthquakes. To pay for nearly constant restoration, the city powers-that-be levied stiff taxes on its citizens. The Christian church there was not singled out for stiffer penalties, but since they shared resources with those in need, as the early church practiced, they likely suffered a greater financial burden than other citizens. So they were small and poor.
We don’t know how large this congregation might have been, nor if they had suffered splits and losses over the years, like a certain church family we all know. But they had kept enough souls in the church body to be able to do those good works, and more than that, to be able to persevere within that community and against its many temptations. They kept the word of Jesus in their hearts and stayed true to Him, not denying Him or His name. That last brings to mind Peter and his denial of Jesus on that night when our Lord was arrested.
All indications are that the family in Philadelphia took full advantage of that open door Jesus gave them, doing great works indeed. Some Bible scholars compare the church in Philadelphia with the Christian church of the 19th century. During the 1800s the church awakened from its stupor and began pushing into the far corners of the earth with a great missionary movement. Doors opened for them that could not be shut. Jesus opened those doors so that His Gospel message could go out and prosper.
The same goes for the church family in Philadelphia. Whereas the church in Smyrna was told that the synagogue of Satan would not prevail against it, the church in Philadelphia received Jesus’ promise that some from that synagogue would be converted to believe in Jesus as Lord. These new believers who Jesus described earlier as false Jews would even bow down in front of the church family and worship Christ with them.
And then Jesus makes a similar promise as He has before, that those who hold fast to their belief and their faith will be richly rewarded upon His return. As He did for the church in Pergamos, Jesus told the Philadelphia family they would receive new names, personal names just for them from Him. They will receive crowns that no one can take from them. And they will become pillars – upholding stalwarts - in the very Temple of God, with no need to ever leave heaven again.
Family, this letter is all about faith. The church family in Philadelphia had faith, rock solid faith, unflinching faith, faith that even the frequent earthquakes could not shake loose. The author of the Book of Hebrews defines faith for us, in the very 1st verse of chapter 11…
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
--Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)
Faith is one of the many gifts from God we’ve received, but like so many things, it is up to us how we make use of that gift. The church family in Philadelphia must have really put their faith to work, considering all the good things Jesus had to say about them. James, the brother of Jesus, has a little something to tell us about putting faith to work in the 2nd chapter of his book, verses 14 through 17, where he says…
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
--James 2:14-17 (NLT)
James goes on to say that faith is made perfect by works. Our actions make our faith complete.
Now faith is not only a gift and an inspiration to do good works, it is also a source of power that we can renew each and every day simply by following Jesus. It’s that power source that helps us press on when we feel like we’re just too tired to continue.
Our faith lets us move mountains, remove obstacles in our way, stand toe-to-toe with Satan as he tries to steal that faith from us. Our faith keeps us in prayer for our loved ones and for strangers, even when man and his medicines can do no more, because we know God can do anything, if it is in His will and His time.
Like the church in Philadelphia, I know the strong faith of this church family called Pilgrim and I’ve seen that faith in action. We don’t just watch suffering and stand by wishing something could be done about it. We get together and put our faith into action. Whether it’s collecting supplies to provide to those in need or spending hours and days cooking and selling chicken dumplings and pies to raise funds to help out in the community, our faith produces works and those works serve our Lord Jesus.
And when the situation is so dire and there is nothing we nor any man can do, we humbly bow our heads and pray to our Father God and beg for His intercession. And we don’t just pray one time, here in church, and let it go at that. We take it home and pray over it every chance we get. We know God can do anything, and we know it has to be in His will and in His time, so we just plead that He include our request in His will and that He make the time soon. And we pray it over and over and never give up hope.
But if God chooses to take our loved one home instead of healing them, then we rejoice over their passing into paradise and being with Jesus for all eternity, knowing that some sweet day we’ll be with them again. On that day we’ll enter heaven and never leave, and we’ll get our crown and our new name.
Family, if any of us knows in our heart that our faith isn’t quite what I just described, if we don’t have the unshakeable faith of the Philadelphia church, if we fail to charge up that power source every day and put it to work serving Jesus, then we need to recommit ourselves to the Son of God. We need to repent of our inaction that keeps us from our faith works, of our insecurity that prevents us from being completely sure of God’s great grace and mercy, of our human sin that has us thinking less of others just because of their station in life.
Let’s keep the faith. And let’s put that faith to work.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, of all the blessings You give us, faith may be the most beautiful. As long as we keep our faith in You and Jesus, then we also have hope and dreams, and a brighter tomorrow that we can look forward to without anxiety or fear. Father we know that some take this wonderful gift for granted, along with so many others of Your blessings. Help us, O God, to always hold our faith tightly to our hearts and may we never waver in our faith in You.
Hear us now, Father, as we speak to You one-on-one, silently from our hearts, seeking Your guidance and Your forgiveness of our sins against You…
Lord Jesus, our Father in heaven gives us faith so that we might serve You. Putting our faith into action shows our love for You and for our fellow man. Our good works, done in Your name, make our faith complete. Help us, please Lord, to always keep our faith and to put it to good use. In Your blessed name, dear Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Now faith is not only a gift and an inspiration to do good works, it is also a source of power that we can renew each and every day simply by following Jesus. It’s that power source that helps us press on when we feel like we’re just too tired to continue.
Our faith lets us move mountains, remove obstacles in our way, stand toe-to-toe with Satan as he tries to steal that faith from us. Our faith keeps us in prayer for our loved ones and for strangers, even when man and his medicines can do no more, because we know God can do anything, if it is in His will and His time.
Like the church in Philadelphia, I know the strong faith of this church family called Pilgrim and I’ve seen that faith in action. We don’t just watch suffering and stand by wishing something could be done about it. We get together and put our faith into action. Whether it’s collecting supplies to provide to those in need or spending hours and days cooking and selling chicken dumplings and pies to raise funds to help out in the community, our faith produces works and those works serve our Lord Jesus.
And when the situation is so dire and there is nothing we nor any man can do, we humbly bow our heads and pray to our Father God and beg for His intercession. And we don’t just pray one time, here in church, and let it go at that. We take it home and pray over it every chance we get. We know God can do anything, and we know it has to be in His will and in His time, so we just plead that He include our request in His will and that He make the time soon. And we pray it over and over and never give up hope.
But if God chooses to take our loved one home instead of healing them, then we rejoice over their passing into paradise and being with Jesus for all eternity, knowing that some sweet day we’ll be with them again. On that day we’ll enter heaven and never leave, and we’ll get our crown and our new name.
Family, if any of us knows in our heart that our faith isn’t quite what I just described, if we don’t have the unshakeable faith of the Philadelphia church, if we fail to charge up that power source every day and put it to work serving Jesus, then we need to recommit ourselves to the Son of God. We need to repent of our inaction that keeps us from our faith works, of our insecurity that prevents us from being completely sure of God’s great grace and mercy, of our human sin that has us thinking less of others just because of their station in life.
Let’s keep the faith. And let’s put that faith to work.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, of all the blessings You give us, faith may be the most beautiful. As long as we keep our faith in You and Jesus, then we also have hope and dreams, and a brighter tomorrow that we can look forward to without anxiety or fear. Father we know that some take this wonderful gift for granted, along with so many others of Your blessings. Help us, O God, to always hold our faith tightly to our hearts and may we never waver in our faith in You.
Hear us now, Father, as we speak to You one-on-one, silently from our hearts, seeking Your guidance and Your forgiveness of our sins against You…
Lord Jesus, our Father in heaven gives us faith so that we might serve You. Putting our faith into action shows our love for You and for our fellow man. Our good works, done in Your name, make our faith complete. Help us, please Lord, to always keep our faith and to put it to good use. In Your blessed name, dear Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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