Number 11 In A Series of Studies on Revelation -

Philadelphia: The Champion Church - Revelation 3:7-13

Here is a church of which you would be proud to be a member. I preached my very first sermon from this Scripture as an 18 years old boy in 1963. The message was much shorter than the one I have prepared for today.

Philadelphia, PA, USA, was founded by the English religious and civil leader, William Penn. It was founded so he and his fellow Quakers could worship in freedom. Penn took the name for his "city of brotherly love" from this obscure city of Asia Minor.

1. City. Philadelphia was located about 28 miles southeast of Sardis. It was the youngest of the seven cities, founded only 189 years before Christ.

In A. D. 17 a great earthquake destroyed Philadelphia, Sardis and 10 other cities. In Philadelphia the tremors went on for years. It was described as a "city full of earthquakes." The situation was so threatening the people were afraid to live in their homes, so they started living outside of town.

* Uncertainties.

* Insecurities.

2. Church, Revelation 3:7. "Unto the angel of the church in Philadelphia write..."

Every one of these letters in Revelation is addressed first to a minister, the "angel" of the church. This must have been particularly encouraging to the pastor at Philadelphia. It is easy for the pastor to feel the weight of the burden of responsibility and forget that it is the Lord who runs His business, Psalm 127:1.

"I have loved thee," verse 9. That's what Ephesians 5:25 says. "Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it." Your attitude and affection for God's church may be undetermined, but it is clear with Christ.

3. Christ, Revelation 3:1. "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."

"These things saith he that is holy..." Holiness is a quality that belongs to God alone. God is without moral flaw.

"He that is true..." There are two Greek words translated "true" in our Bible. One means "right" as opposed to wrong. The one used here means "real" as opposed to phony. Jesus is real. Of the hundreds of false gods and goddesses in those days, only Jesus Christ is the true God.

"He that hath the key of David..." This is a reference to the authority of the holy and real Christ. By law, by lineage and by the eternal purpose of God, Jesus Christ is the everlasting King. "Jesus is the heir to the earthly, visible, actual throne of David," (Vance Havner). Isaiah 22:22

Isaiah 9:6, 7 - "The government shall be upon his shoulders...of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

Luke 1:32, 33 - "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

"He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." It is God that determines opportunity. It is God who both determines and deters our progress.

4. A Commendation, Revelation 3:8-10 "I know thy works: behold, I have 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. 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. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, 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."

"If we will check carefully the reference to the ‘door' and the ‘open door' in the New Testament, we will discover that the open door that Jesus spoke of to the church at Philadelphia was the right to preach the gospel, the right to evangelize the world.

Many people believe that these seven churches in Revelation represent seven great dispensations in history. There is a great deal of truth in that. The Philadelphian church represents the present age. It is the age we call the age of grace, the age of the open door, the age when we can preach the gospel, and the last age of the church," James Draper, The Unveiling, p. 85.

Our Lord commends this church for four specific things.

Willingness. "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it..."This church had taken advantage of the doors God had opened. In recent years, God has opened the doors to Poland, Germany, Roumania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, the Soviet Union - and more.

Weakness. "For thou hast a little strength..." This was not an indictment about a condition of spiritual weakness, but seems to imply there were only a few saints in the church who were doing these great things for God. God's work isn't about our strength. It's about His strength.

Sampson had great ability, but no dependability. He had great power, but no purity. A small church with faith in a big God can be used to accomplish much for the kingdom. Here is a church that didn't have impressive numbers or buildings or programs, but they knew they had an impressive God.

Word. "And hast kept my word..." This refers to the sum total of God's utterances. They had kept them, not ignored or discarded them. It is sad to hear supposed scholars question the inspiration, integrity, and infallibility of the Holy Bible. The Christian ought to love, study, obey, live by and share the Word of God. And the way be "keep" the Word is by giving it away!

Witness. "And hast not denied my name." This word "deny" means "to contradict or disown." If you stay true to the Word of God you will stay true to Jesus Christ. The clear conclusion of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the only Savior of the world.

Why should we deny what everyone who will ever live will one day confess? Philippians 2:9-11.

What will happen to a church like this? For the enemies their will be humiliation, v. 9. "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.

For the church there will be preservation, v. 10 "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, 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."

"Its final fulfillment will undoubtedly be realized by those who, loyal to His word, and not denying His name, shall be gathered out of the world at His second coming before the judgment that must usher in the setting up of His Kingdom on the earth," - G. Campbell Morgan

"Those who remember such events as World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, or the Desert Storm conflict in Iraq have only barely tasted the uncertainty, the horror, the sorrow, and the fear of the coming Tribulation. There will be slaughter, atrocity, terror, and panic on a scale that beggars our ability to imagine, and we will encounter vivid descriptions of that time in the coming pages of Revelation," - Ray Steadman.

God's people are promised to be kept "from" the Tribulation period. This is a veiled promise of the rapture of God's people of which we are clearly shown in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. 1 Thessalonians 5:9, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

5. A Condemnation. The typical pattern of these seven letters is that following the commendation there is a blazing condemnation. But like the church at Smyrna, the church at Philadelphia was not called to repent. Not one single complaint was leveled against them. What a church!

6. Counsel, Revelation 3:11 "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."

"Behold, I come quickly..."This point to the second coming of Christ. To Sardis Christ's coming was a threat, v. 3. To Philadelphia Christ's coming was a treat. The Lord's churches are not looking for the Great Tribulation - we are looking for the Lord Himself to come for us.

"Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," Titus 2:13.

"Hold that fast which thou hast..." This calls for a commitment. "Hold fast" means to "make secure, to make safe."

We have given God something to keep - our souls, 2 Timothy 1:12, 14.

God has given us something to keep - the truth, 1 Timothy 1:11; 6:20.

"The only way to hold fast is to be held fast," Larry Williams.

"That no man take thy crown." Here we are reminded there are crowns to gain or lose. This is not talking about salvation, but the eternal reward given by God to those who are faithful. Saints should secure their crowns because Satan will try to steal our crowns. The slack hand will soon be the empty hand!

Esau lost his place to Jacob, Genesis 25.

Reuben lost his place to Judah, Genesis 49.

Saul lost his place to David, 1 Samuel 16.

Judas lost his place to Mathias, Acts 1.

The Jews lost their place to the Gentiles, Romans 11.

7. Comfort, Revelation 3:12 "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 new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out..." The custom in Philadelphia was to honor a person by placing a great pillar in one of the temples with his name inscribed on it. Believers will be so honored in the temple of God and permanently so.

"And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the cityof my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." The writing of a man indicates...

- Identification with God.

- Possession by God.

Three new names: name of God, name of New Jerusalem, name of Christ, Revelation 19:12; 22:3-4.

8. Challenge, Revelation 3:13 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

This message to the Philadelphian church is a message to this church.

Prepared and delivered by
Dr. Jerry D. Locke
Lake Worth Baptist Church
4445 Hodgkins Road
Fort Worth, TX 76135-2136