Word of Salvation – Vol. 73 No. 07 – June 2023

 

The Living Lord And His Church At Philadelphia

 

Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on Revelation 3:7-13

Reading: Matthew 16:13-28, Revelation 3:7-13

Suggested Songs: Jesus with your Church abide (BoW.483)
                        Christ shall have dominion (BoW.072a)

 

Theme:  A faithful church is given special promises of new opportunities and of Christ’s protection.

 

Introd:  I could learn quite a bit about you by simply asking you for your bunch of keys.

They might tell me that you drive a car… maybe even what sort of car you drive.

I might learn from your keys that you have your mail sent to a P.O. box.

Your house keys might even tell me whether your house is old or new.

Back in Revelation 1:18 Jesus was pictured with a bunch of keys too.

And also in our text Jesus is holding a key.  Jesus is the Keeper of the keys.
I began our saeries in Revelation 2 & 3 by pointing out that these chapters
            are not just about the church… they are especially about the Lord Jesus.
And here we can now learn something else about Him simply by looking at His keys.

Those keys tell us Jesus has already won the battle.

They show us that – in a sense – He has taken away the devil’s keys.
Because back in Rev.1:18 Jesus now holds the keys of death and hades.
Interesting!  Now satan doesn’t even have a key to his own front door anymore.
That means that even the gates of hell cannot overcome the church.

That other key – in vs.7 – the key of David, that Jesus holds, points us to the Kingdom.

It shows us Jesus’ power… His authority… His sovereignty.
When He opens no one can shut… and when He shuts no one can open.
He has absolute control over this world and over the church.
The Kingdom is His alone.  The key is in His possession.

This teaching about Jesus is wonderfully comforting for us as Christians.
The Kingdom of Christ will come and nothing can prevent it.
The key in the hand of Jesus makes sure that evil will stay out of His Kingdom.
But that key in the Saviour’s hand also makes sure that I am allowed in.
            I am secure in that Kingdom of Jesus.
            He has opened it for me and now no one can shut me out.

 

A]        A MISSIONARY TASK ENTRUSTED TO A FAITHFUL CHURCH.

1.         Notice that Jesus addresses Himself to the small church of Philadelphia as the Keeper of the keys.

Philadelphia is another church known for it’s faithfulness.

Smyrna was the only church about which nothing negative was said.

In Philadelphia there is one negative – but it doesn’t come across as a criticism.

The prominent characteristic of this church is FAITHFULNESS.

Jesus spells it out: Philadelphia you have been faithful in teaching…  You have held on to my Word.
            Philadelphia you have been faithful in your witness…  You have not denied my name.

Jesus does not measures a church by the number of people keeping a pew warm.

Nor is a church’s faithfulness measured by the variety of its activities and programs.
But first… by holding on to the WORD of Jesus.
And secondly… by upholding the NAME of Jesus.

But now notice something closely linked with that.
Faithfulness is rewarded by opportunities for further faithfulness.
A faithful church and faithful Christians are given opportunities for further service.

Jesus tells this faithful church: I have placed before you an open door.

The apostle Paul spoke of the ‘open door’ as an opportunity to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So this ‘open door’ is not an open ticket for the church to do whatever it wants to do.
Rather it is an open door of opportunity to serve Jesus, its living Lord.
It is an open door for witness, for outreach, for missions, for service.

We can identify with the church at Philadelphia.  God also places before us many open doors.

In fact rarely has the Christian church faced so many challenges and opportunities.

There is so much brokenness and pain out there waiting for us to attend to.
We have some wonderful open doors to serve others thru the Bookshop.
There are still open doors for Christian religious instruction in schools.
There are opportunities for Bible study groups and for Carols at Christmas.
We have our contacts built up over years of being good neighbours.

Opportunities… – as we remain faithful to the Word and to the name of Jesus.
In fact, far more open doors than we have the possibility to capitalise on.
And in some ways that’s our big problem.
            How are we going to respond to all the open doors the Lord puts before us?
            What can we do – two dozen people in here… thousands out there!
            And many, many of them have never heard the gospel in a meaningful way.
            The need is there… but how can we even begin to meet all those needs?

On top of that we also know ourselves too well…  Can I really cope with such a challenge?

I’m not strong enough spiritually…. my own faith is too weak.

2.         If we say that then we should again be able to identify with Philadelphia.

Because Jesus makes a similar comment about this church.

It is the only negative statement made about this faithful church.

Jesus says:  I know your deeds… that you have little power… little strength!

Okay, we have to be careful how we interpret that statement.
Maybe they were small in number… a little congregation in a big world.
It could be that they were poor… lacking in resources.
Perhaps they were young Christians lacking in knowledge and understanding.
            What happens if someone asks hard questions?
            What if the task becomes too difficult?
            Jesus says:     I know that you have little strength… little power.

But, you see, that’s why Jesus introduces Himself as the Keeper of the keys.
He is the One who has the power… He unlocked that open door.
And when the Living Christ opens then no one can shut it.

Today we need that reminder as we look at the open doors the Lord puts before us.
It’s easy for us to see only ourselves and our feeble strength.
We see the bigness of the task… we feel our own inadequacies.
We feel were not good at talking to others… our knowledge is lacking… we are shy?

Well, Jesus has the keys.  He’s holding the door open so no one can shut it.

Weakness and lack of power is no barrier to the gospel message.

Paul discovered that and learned to say:  When I am weak, then I am strong!

The reality is that Christ’s strength is so often perfected in our human weakness.

So the problem is never our little strength… the smallness of our power.

You and I don’t have to force the door open… the Living Lord has already done that.

We just have to walk in through that open door of opportunity.

All we have to do is what Philadelphia did: just keep the Word of Jesus and don’t deny His name.

 

B]        THE PROMISE OF NEW CONVERTS IN A FAITHFUL CHURCH.

1.         At times we are inclined to think that the keys Jesus holds are only for the church.

The keys of the kingdom are for guarding us who are already inside.
Protecting us so that the gates of hell will not overcome the church.
            In Matthew 16 Jesus gave those keys of the Kingdom to His church.
            They are to administer the means of grace… to guard the Word and the Sacraments.

But here these keys represent nothing less than the absolute authority of Jesus.
Remember Rev.1:18 – He even holds the keys of death and hades.
There we have our surest guarantee that our work for God is never in vain.
When we engage in missions and evangelism… or in some diaconal works of mercy…
It is not a lot of futile effort…. it really does impact human lives.

There is a beautiful balance in the last 2 letters to the seven churches.

Here in Philadelphia there is an emphasis on Christ’s sovereignty.

His will is going to be accomplished in the lives of people.

He is in control… He decides when to open and when to shut.

            When He opens no one can shut and when He shuts no one can open.

            Admittance to the Kingdom is totally and absolutely in His hands.

But in the very next letter… to Laodicea… we have quite a different emphasis.

There we have one of the most beautiful appeals to human responsibility.

To that Church Jesus says: “See I stand at the door and knock.   If anyone hears my voice and                                        opens the door I will go in and eat with him and he with me.”

In missions and evangelism some Christians make Laodicea and Rev. 3:20 their key text.

They say:        Jesus knocks… but you have to open the door.
            Jesus stands on the outside but the handle of the door is on the inside.
            It is all up to you.  Jesus can do no more until you invite Him in.

When we make that our sole emphasis then the work of reaching others becomes very uncertain.
Then that open door of opportunity can become very threatening.
            What if people keep rejecting the message we bring and they don’t open the door?
            What if we don’t present the gospel clearly enough?

That’s why we first have the other side of the picture in this letter to the church at Philadelphia.

When Jesus opens, no one… and we mean no one… no one can shut.

And He opens it precisely so that His Word will bring results.

This is our great certainty in the work Jesus gives the church to do.

The keys Jesus holds are not meaningless symbols… they work in the lives of real people.
We take the opportunities to uphold the Word… and to testify to Christ’s Name.
But as we do this Jesus leads people through that open door that no one can shut.

2.         Perhaps you wonder whether I’ve changed tack.

I began by saying that the open door was the door of opportunity.

The open door set before the church is to get on with the work of Jesus.

Now I’m talking about doors and keys as a way for others to be admitted to the Kingdom of Christ.

And that is true… but the one flows into the other and that becomes very clear in vs.9.

Jesus shows there that He is not just talking in vague generalities but that He has real people in view.
People who’s lives will be changed as they are led into the Kingdom of Christ.
            But then that is not first of all because they changed their minds.
            But they will come because a Sovereign Lord compels them.

“I will make those who are of the synagogue of satan…  I will make them come and fall down at your feet”.

I am convinced that Jesus is not just talking about judgment day here.

Not about that time when every knee shall bow.

Rather about that open door of opportunity Jesus sets before His church.

Here are people who are enemies of the church… followers of satan.
They call themselves Jews but they aren’t.
In God’s eyes the true Israel of God is the church… and these people oppose the church.
And now Jesus says that out of that hostile bunch…
            He will bring some into the midst of His people for confession and worship.

It takes the power of the Living Christ to change people like that.
Only Jesus can change a persecuting Saul into a church-planting Paul.
So here is our greatest certainty that these open doors will lead to changed lives.
Because Jesus has the keys… He opens the doors.

Actually there is much about verse 9 we could also apply to today.
Today there are still people who call themselves religious people… maybe even “Christian”.
But they are not… they are deceiving themselves.
There are even people who side with the enemy and who still call themselves Christians.
            They rubbish the gospel we believe in.
            They bring a gospel that is not a gospel.

Jesus says: I set before you an open door to reach even people like that.
And our greatest certainty that some will indeed come… is the sovereignty of Christ.
Jesus holds the keys, He opens and no one can shut.

Here is our greatest confidence in all our efforts as a congregation and as individuals.
Confidence… because Jesus is still building His church.
So our success is not dependant first on our efforts.
Not because we speak so well or so wisely but simply because the keys hang from Jesus’ belt.

 

C]        A PROMISE OF PROTECTION AND A CALL TO HOLD FAST.

1.         The Lord also lets the people of Philadelphia know that the time ahead will not be easy.

True – it’s the time when the door is open for the work of the gospel.

But it is also the time when the enemy will oppose the work.

Satan will not easily let go of what he considers to be his territory.

As we go though open doors into our community the evil one will never make it easy for us.

He’s going to try to put us off our task by having people ridicule us.
In the office they’ll call you an ‘odd-bod’ for being a Christian.
In the workshop they’ll rubbish you for believing the Bible.
            We’ll be tempted to let go of that Word of Jesus… and to deny His name.

It seems that oppression is always an inevitable accompaniment of the gospel.

We see it in Acts 16 where a sovereign Lord opens Lydia’s heart to receive the gospel.
But right there the devil also opens a prison door for Paul and Silas.

In fact Jesus warns His church at Philadelphia that there’s worse to come.
An hour of trial to test the world.
We are not told exactly what this ‘hour of testing’ is.  Perhaps it’s under emperor Nero.
But from other Scriptures we also know things will get worse before Jesus returns.

But again there is comfort from the holder of the keys.
Comfort is promised specifically to a faithful church.
“Since you have kept my word to endure patiently I will also keep you from the hour of trial.”
            Jesus promises the safety of His protection.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be any difficulties.
Paul and Silas still had to sit in a prison with their feet in the stocks.
But Jesus promises His keeping and guarding – we ill come out of it in safety.
            A faithful church is promised Christ’s faithful protection.
            So that nothing can ever separate us from His love.

2.         At the same time there is again a lovely balance in this letter.

Jesus promises us His protection while we take the opportunities.

Don’t worry about what might happen – you just go through that open door.

But that doesn’t mean that we can just coast along, careless in our faith.

These Philadelphians are once more called to remain faithful.
In Vs 11 Jesus says:  Hold on to what you have.
And if we ask:  What did they have that they must now hold on to?
            then the answer is:  That Word of Jesus and that Name of Jesus.

The Word and the name…!
Keep holding onto those things… keep being faithful.
You work at it from your side… then no one will take your crown.

Today the doors of opportunity are still open.
 We don’t know for how long they will still be open.
  The time may rapidly come when the doors of opportunity will close.
   So how do we deal with the challenge God puts before us?

The strength of the church today doesn’t lie in all sorts of fads and gimmicks.

The strength of the church doesn’t even lie in numbers nor in many resources.

The strength of the church lies in holding to what we have.

And even if there be little strength… little to work with… we have the most important things.

The strength of the church lies in the Word of Jesus.

And the power of the church lies in upholding His name.
For the rest we must simply trust the Keeper of the keys.

3.         In closing Jesus adds yet one more lovely promise for those who overcome.

Previously we saw that we overcome in the way of faith.]

In symbolic language we are given a picture of the blessings of eternity.

There is the pillar in the temple of God.

            IOW a permanent place in the presence of God.

There is the naming with the name of God… and the name of the city of God.

            IOW a picture of belonging and of being personally known in glory.

Here on earth it sometimes seems that faithfulness is a waste of time.
You stay faithful to the Lord and you repeatedly get kicked in the teeth.
You take up the challenges, go through the open doors.
And you get taken for granted and rubbished for your faith.

Here Jesus shows us that the rewards for faithfulness are wonderful.
In fact, they are right out of this world.
You can count it – it has been guaranteed by the Keeper of the keys.

Amen.