Power & Possibilities, Perseverance & Promises
Rev 3:7 – 13
Introduction
Review
We are nearing the end of the 7 churches of Revelation. If you take the issues of all the churches as a whole we find that common things were false teaching, accepting false teachers, persecution from the Roman government, persecution from Jews, even death for Christians because of their faith. Jesus gives encouragement and points out weaknesses to 4 of the 5 churches and lets them know they will be held accountable.
Today’s church is a little different. Today we come upon the church at Philadelphia. It was a church that was doing things right in the crazy world of the first century. Jesus had nothing He tells them that they were weak at or needed correcting.
Background of Philadelphia
It was a smaller town just about 30 miles ESE of Sardis, the city we looked at last week. Philadelphia is the youngest city of all the cities addressed. It was founded in 189 BC by either King Eumenes or his brother Attalis II. They both ruled the city and they are not sure which one founded the city. What we do know is that the name Philadelphia was given to the city because of the brother’s profound love and loyalty for each other. We are familiar with a city in the US with that name - Philadelphia– the city of brotherly love – it comes from the Greek words for brother – adelphos and love – Phileo.
The city was considered the “Gateway to the East”, just like we refer to St. Louis as the “Gateway to the West”. Attalus II had a mission for the city– to help spread the Greek way of life and culture – which was very successful. Even though Rome conquered the known world at that time, the Greek language and culture dominated almost every region.
Philadelphia as a small church – special to Jesus
This church at Philadelphia is believed to be a small church. This is assumed from Jesus’ description of it as “not having much strength.” It was a church that seemingly would be overlooked by many people yet is had a special place in the heart of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t judge the church by it’s size but rather by its heart. His message to them and to us is one of encouragement and promise. I’ve summarized His message in two phrases: Power and Possibilities & Perseverance and Promises.
Let’s look first at the Power and Possibilities
1. Power and Possibilities
a. Power is seen in the person of Jesus
i. 7 "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
1. Like Athens, Philadelphia was a place with many temples and gave to the emperor the title “The Son of the Holy One.”
2. Yet Jesus has the power of truth - Notice the play on words as Jesus describes Himself - “He who is holy, who is true” in verse 7.
3. He is also described as the one who holds the key of David. David was seen as the greatest king in the history of Israel. He was the most powerful king they ever had.
4. Jesus is the one who holds all that authority in His hand. He was far greater than the greatest king Israel had ever known.
5. That last phrase really undergirds the concept of His power – “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
ii. We need to recognize the power and authority of Jesus today in the church today.
1. He is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords
2. John 1:1 tells us that He was in the beginning when all things were created
3. John 14 says He is “the way, the truth and the life.”
4. In Rev 1:18 He is the one who holds “the keys of death and Hades.” NIV
5. Acts 4:12 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
6. Our prayer should be, “Lord, help us recognize and live by your power.”
b. The Possibilities Before His Church
i. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
ii. As I mentioned earlier, Philadelphia was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture and the Greek language to Lydia and Phrygia.
1. It did it’s work so well that by A.D. 19 the Lydians had forgotten their own Lydian language and were all but Greek.
iii. That idea of mission in Philadelphia is what Jesus means when he speaks of the open door that is set before Philadelphia. Now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity, an open door to carry to men who never knew it the message of the love of Jesus Christ.
iv. God has placed Anchor in a unique time and place. I believe we have all kinds of opportunities before us.
1. We just did a demographic study on the area.
2. Did you know that within a 5 mile radius of the church the current population is 80,456 people.
3. They are projecting a 22% growth rate in Lee County by 2030. If you use that same rate the population within a 5 mile radius will be 107,974.
4. Just to the east of the church on the other side of I-75 there are going to be adding between 1000 & 1500 housing units within the next couple of years.
5. We have formed a Strategic Planning team here at Anchor to begin looking at things we need to do to open the doors of opportunities that God is putting before us.
a. We need to grow in our outreach to new people.
b. We need to grow in our retention and assimilation of new people.
c. If we have results in those areas, then we need to look possibly expanding facilities.
6. What is the key to all of that? Do what the church are Philadelphia did – “you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
Transition – That is just scratching the surface of the power of Jesus and the possibilities that He has put before us. I want to challenge you to make all of this a matter of prayer. What does God have in store for Anchor Christian Church?
Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on to talk about perseverance and promises.
2. Perseverance and Promises
a. Perseverance gives the promise of power over your enemies
i. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars — I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently,
ii. Who were the enemies of the Christians there? Ironically, again, they faced more opposition from the Jews than the Roman government.
iii. But look what Jesus says about those that will oppose the Christians. They will be humbled.
1. They will bow down and acknowledge that God loves them.
2. The impact of that - For the Jew, they could not accept that God would love anyone else but them. But Jesus says they would bow down and have to acknowledge that Jesus even loves the Gentiles.
3. Why would all of this happen? Because they “kept my command to endure patiently,”
4. This goes along with the passage in Phil which says, Phil 2:10-11 “10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
iv. Jesus will take care of His children in the end. It does not mean that we will not have bad days and suffer at times for what we believe in, but in the end – We Win!
v. This is just another reinforcement of the purpose of the book of Revelation – encouragement to remain faithful until the day Jesus returns and judgement is brought to the world.
b. Perseverance gives the promise of protection
i. I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
ii. This passage is definitely a picture of the end times.
iii. I don’t know all of the details and what is all going to happen but Jesus says here that He will give protection from the hour of trial.
iv. Revelation points to a time when there will be a final conflict. This may be a reference to that time.
v. The promise is that those who hold on to their faith will be protected during that time and no one will be able to take the crown of life from them. The crown, a symbol of victory.
c. Perseverance gives the promise of stability
i. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. NIV
ii. This passage gives a picture of strength and stability.
iii. The image of a “pillar” was very vivid in the ancient world.
i. The one thing that seems to survive the ancient ruins is pillars – almost every picture of ruins you see has pillars in it.
ii. A pillar is a support, something which holds steady that around it. What a great promise to those who lived in constant turmoil from an unsteady and unpredictable earth, that they themselves would become a solidifying, a steadying force.
iii. The church at Philadephia took to heart what Jesus said and thrived. They must have loved the image of being a pillar. This is a picture from the pillars of the church in Philadelphia from the 6th century.
d. Perseverance promises a new identity
i. Jesus says a “new name” will be given.
ii. Philadelphia understood that imagery also. The city received a new name twice in the first century: the first time after a massive earthquake in A.D. 17.
iii. It was designated "Neocaesarea" in gratitude for Tiberius' generosity to help rebuild the city.
iv. The second time in the early 70’s to it was designated "Flavia" after Vespasian gave financial assistance following a similar catastrophe.
v. Name changes in the Bible were significant.
1. They usually marked a big change or event in someone’s life.
2. Jesus uses that imagery to emphasize the change that will occur when He returns.
3. A new name will be given to those who endure to the end.
e. So, what will remaining faithful to Jesus get you?
i. Power over your enemies
ii. Protection over the “hour of trial”
iii. Stability
iv. A new identity
v. I don’t know about you, but that all sounds like a pretty good deal. Especially since none of it is temporary – its for eternity!