Revelation
“The Unveiling of Jesus”
III. Chp. 2-3 The vision of His Church: (1:19b) “The things, which are”
3:7-13
“The Church With an Open Door”
I. Intro
II. Vs. 7-13 Those given an open door
I. Intro
In Jesus 6th letter to His church you will notice not one word of condemnation in the seven verses here. Philadelphia, “love of the brethren” was located 30 miles south east of Sardis and was prone to earthquakes. In was not an important city or a large city, its only claim was that it was the gateway to the east. In the eyes of the world it had little strength but in the eyes of our Lord He set before it an open door. Historically this church would match the evangelical church of 1520 to the present day. During this period of church history such people as, Hudson Taylor, William Carry, and Amy Carmichael have carried the gospel around the world. The greatest challenge of this church is not that there is, no any open doors but rather that there are too few people to go through them. It also seems as those that do go through do so in their own strength.
Vs. 7 Author: Since there is no word of correction to this Church Jesus’ description of Himself is meant to encourage them. Their location or the view others had of them it seems as though they did not think that their work for the Lord mattered but Jesus reveals three things of encouragement based upon His character found in the phrase: “These things says”
“He who is holy”: Above every other aspect of His character, Jesus is holy. He always does right, He is free from any defilement and as cannot do wrong!
“He who is true”: The idea is that of right conduct. It is interesting to see how conduct always seems to follow character. Jesus is perfect in who He is therefor He is perfect in what He does. To the Church little in size He declares that, this is not a problem with Him indeed it is an asset.
“He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: This is a reference to Isa. 22:22 where God spoke to Eliakim the High priest about the authority He was going to give him. Hezekiah was the King and the Assyrians were marching upon Jerusalem, the inhabitance of the city instead of repenting had an “eat, drink and be marry for tomorrow we die” attitude. The keys mentioned were to the treasury of David which gave the bearer the authority to distribute the provisions as needed. To this Church Jesus shows Himself with absolute authority to give as He sees fit no matter what their position was in the world’s eyes He saw them as the ones He desired to use. Saint’s, “We must never let what we don’t have keep us from what we must do!”
Vs. 8 Approval: To this Church of little strength Jesus provides an open door. An open door speaks of an opportunity for ministry and this door is not only open, it can’t be shut! Three things contributed to the success of this church which we can duplicate in our lives today:
“You have a little strength”: The word little means unimportant and is the same word used of Jesus when He speaks of Zachaeus. It speaks of how the world sizes up people and things. Their being little aided in their success as it made them totally dependent upon the Lord. Jesus knows that our effectiveness lies upon our understanding our condition as being weak. It is only then that we can only trust in His strength. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 12:10 “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
“Have kept My word”: They consistently centered their lives on obedience to His word.
“Have not denied My name”: They kept Jesus the main thing! Their identity never wavered as it was all about becoming more like Him.
To the Church that is:
Totally dependent upon Him
Only desirous to be like Him
And just wants to be known in Him
There will always be an open door of ministry that no one can shut and not even the gates of Hades shall prevail against it, a fact that is brought out in verse 9.
Vs. 9 The first promise Jesus makes to this church is that He will take care of its enemies, as they are not our enemies but His. Nothing can or will be able to thwart His plans or opportunities. This church was up against a false system of worship and Jesus says because you worship Me you are seated with me in heavenly places and the world will come before us and worship at our feet. Saint’s the world saw this little church and thought because of their size they were unloved by the Lord but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus alone held the keys, where unbelief sees obstacles faith sees opportunities. Since the Lord will take care of all of those who oppose us all we have are opportunities. Jesus promises to:
Strengthen this church
Use this church
Promises them victory
Vs. 10-11 Accreditation: Another great promise based upon their obedience is to persevere them by trusting in His strength. Several things to note about this promise:
“I also will keep you from”: The word “from” means “out of” not through. In other words Jesus promise to this Church is to keep us out of the trial that will come upon the world to test the world.
“The hour of trial”: The word hour is a word that represents a very specific time period. In other words, the promise is to take them from the very hour or time period.
“Which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth”: It is very obvious that this is a reference to the great tribulation, which we will see in chapters 6-19.
This promise is not to bring us through the great tribulation (post trib), nor is it to be removed out of the trial of the tribulation (mid trib) but rather to be taken from the very time period altogether (pre trib).
Vs. In light of this promise, Jesus tells them “I’m coming quickly” so hold fast what you have. The crown always refers to rewards and not salvation, so Jesus is saying stay the course your on tell I come for you!
Vs. 12-13 Accommodation: They are not only promised a crown but to stand in His presence forever. In Solomon’s temple there were two pillars that he was to give names, Jachin “God establishes” and Boaz “Strength”. The Lord Himself will write on us His new name and we will never again go out into the world. Our identity will be established threefold:
Name of My God
Name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.
My new name.
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Revelation Study -Aug 21, 2013 – /
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